TXG Highschool
by CalaisForever
Summary: Gwen, Courtney, Bridgette, Geoff and Duncan are all seniors. What happens when the new kid comes and catches Gwen's eye? Then everything goes down hill. Rated M for swearing, and violence mostly!
1. Meeting

**A/N: I know there are way too many of these, but this is my first FanFic so read and let me know if I'm the suckiest author in the world or if you think I should make another one after I'm done this. Hope you enjoy!**

Madi

**Gwen's P.O.V.**

There he was. All the girls were drooling over him. It was only the first day back at school. Granted it was sixth period but still, who could have that many friends that fast when you're a new kid. I guess it shouldn't bug me. I mean people just sort of….go to him, I guess that's how you describe it. This was my first class with him, but it's not like Bridgette and Courtney failed to enlighten me on the subject of _the __**gorgeous**__ new kid, _even though Bridgette assured me Geoff was waaaaay hotter. Mr. Brummer called out seat assignments. _He_ was sitting next to me. I looked at him. Really looked at him for the first time. OMG! Now I got what everyone was talking about.

"Hey. I'm Trent."

His voice was like an angel's. I tried not to show my interest.

"I'm Gwen."

I could tell by the twinkle in his eyes that I'd failed. I turned back to doodle in my sketchbook. My pitch black hair covered my face. The midnight blue streak was very bright in it. I could feel his eyes on me and I started to blush. Thank God for thick hair!

"Wow! You drew those!"

I looked up and he was right there. I could almost hear my quick, but quiet intake of breath. I laughed a little nervously.

"Um….yeah. Art's kinda my thing, I guess."

"Well, I suck at art, but I'm taking it this semester anyway. Maybe we could get together and you could teach me how to actually draw."

I just sat there totally dumbstruck. Why would this guy be interested in ME? I mean, I'm a complete loner! The total opposite of Mr. Popularity over her! This guy was welcome to any girl in the school and he's picking me! Sure, of course! There was no way I could be falling for this! But I was. Worse than that, I wasn't even falling anymore I had hit the ground and was totally hooked! Hook, line and sinker!

I finally answered. "Yeah. Maybe this weekend sometime."

He grabbed his phone and I grabbed mine. I rattled off my digits and he said he'd call me tonight. I turned and walked to my locker. Courtney and Bridgette were already waiting for me.

"Do not tell me you just got a date with the new guy!"

Leave it to Courtney to cut right to the chase! I looked down and blushed.

"Well… kinda….I guess…."

"Oh my god! That is amazing! We could plan this whole romantic dinner for you guys and-"

"Court, slow down! Let the girl speak first!"Bridgette interrupted, always the voice of reason.

"K… well he kinda saw my drawings and wants art lessons so he's going to call me tonight and set stuff up," I shrugged.

"Ok. Even I need more than that." I knew the whole voice of reason thing couldn't last long.

"Well, that's all you're going to get right now, so live with it." I knew I should have been nicer, but come on; I only talked to the guy for like three seconds! I would call them after he called me.

"K, well, I've got to go to Political science but I will see you," Courtney looked pointedly at me, "after."

"Not likely I have a last period spare so I'm gone."

"Well, I'll see you after, Courtney, I have Gym next. Will you wait up for me after school?" Bridgette asked the burnette.

"Yeah. I'll talk to you guys later, K?"

"See yah!" Just like that I was gone.

**A/N: I know that was the suckiest thing on the planet. Please R&R anyways! If you guys have any ideas put them in your reviews and I will put a special shout out to whoever's idea's I use at the beginning of each chapter! I might not update for a while cuz I'm in the middle of exams, but after that I will write as much as I can cuz it's Christmas Break! Hallelujah! WOO HOO! P.s. please don't make your reviews too harsh! I am a first timer and don't mind constructive criticism but I do NOT like being yelled at! **

**Madi **


	2. Work

**A/N: You guys are awesome! Thanks a lot for all the reviews! I know that last chapter wasn't super long, but I'm hoping this will make up for it! If you guys ever have a problem with the story, like the TDI characters aren't really in character, PLEASE let me know! I want to know what you guys like and don't like about the story! Anyway, Hope You Enjoy!**

**Madi**

**p.s. It will be Gwen's P.O.V. the whole time unless I change it.**

I walked to work in the freezing cold. I had gloves and a hat and everything, but still how much colder can Canada get! The joy about having a last period spare and then having work right after is that no one is ever there to see you working and being humiliated. Unfortunately or me, Geoff and Duncan tend to skip last period ALL THE TIME! I always see them at work. I can't wait for the holidays to start in a couple days! Then I don't have to work and I can wait until Christmas and New Years…. Then I have to come back to school! Woo…. NOT!

"Hey, Geoff….Duncan."

Geoff is an awesome guy. He is so nice. He has been like my best friend ever since he and Bridgette started going out. Duncan's a little more rough around the edges than Geoff. There are times when he is the biggest retard on the planet and I hate his guts! For some reason though, he always ends up being my best friend and my big brother all rolled into one. I remember this guy I used to date and when he dumped me I cried for almost a whole day. Bridgette and Courtney didn't know what to do. When they told Geoff and Duncan, Duncan totally flipped out!

_-Flashback-_

"_Why the hell would you dump someone like Gwen?"_

"_I…I…I j-just… I mean… I-"_

"_You what! God Damn it! Just spit it out already!"_

"_She was just to glum for me I guess-I… I I-Imean—"_

"_Too glum…WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT IDEA!"_

_-End of Flashback-_

Don't get me wrong I love him for that, but I still didn't need him to do it and end up getting suspended. Did I forget to mention he beat up the guy after he didn't give Duncan a god enough reason? _Sigh_, Duncan, when will you learn… Anyways.

"Hey Gwen! What's up?"

"Work. It sucks."

"Ha ha! What the pretty goth girl can't take a little heat?" I did mention how some days I hate his guts. Yeah, this is one of them.

"Ha ha Duncan. You're so funny." If only looks could kill. If only.

"So you coming to my End of Term Christmas Party this weekend?" Geoff always through the BEST party's. And he throws them basically every single week. I barely ever go though. Too many people and I don't drink all that much.

"Dunno. Depends on whether I'm working or not. So, what do you guys want?"

"The usual." I never can figure out how they always manage to say it simultaneously.

"K. Be right back."

When I came back Trent had joined them. I can't figure out whether I'm having a really lucky day or a really bad one.

"Um…Hey Trent. Can I get you anything?" I asked, a little shyly.

"Nah, I'm good Gwen." I smiled at him. "So are you going to Geoff's party this weekend, Gwen?" he continued

"Ha ha! He managed to suck you into it already? I'm still not sure," I replied easily.

"Aw. That's too bad I was kind of hoping you'd come." I beat down a blush.

"We'll see. I got to go though my shift's over. Hey, Duncan, I bet if you stick around you might be able to annoy Courtney enough into going to the party with you. Only if you annoy her enough though." I know it sounded like I was throwing Courtney to the dogs but I wasn't. Duncan was going to annoy her so much that she would finally go to the party with him just to shut him up and he would so owe me. Then he would totally ruin it and say, "See. I told you that you liked me." Then she would kick him in the nuts and I would have my revenge. I'm a diabolical mastermind. Then again if you spend long enough with the same people (like possibly all FOUR YEARS of high school) you tend to know what happens even before it happens.

"Hey Courtney. I'm warning you now, Duncan's in there with Geoff and Trent," I said to her as her and Bridgette entered through the back.

"You mean the new kid Trent? The one you like? And you're not going to make up some excuse to stick around? Bridgette and I are going to have to do like an intervention or something because usually when you like someone you try to be around them as much as possible."

"Well, I don't see you hanging out with Duncan much so I'm just following you're example." It always went like this with us when we were talking about guys. She'd say something I'd say something back and we'd both walk off. Not actually P.O'd at each other but we weren't going to immediately hug and make up. It happened pretty often, but we were still best friends no matter how much we fought.

I threw on my hat and mitts and stuff and braced myself for the wind. Before I could walk out the door I heard someone calling my name. I knew who it was right away. "Hey. Do you want a ride home? It doesn't seem fair to make you walk home in that blizzard."

"Um…. Are you sure? I mean it's no big deal I can walk home," I told him.

"I'm not letting you walk in this. Come on my cars just outside the front door." Trent grabbed my hand. I blushed at how nice it felt.

We passed the counter and Courtney just gave me a look that said, "Oooh! I am so going to hear about this later!"

We went out to his car. He had a gorgeous black BMW. I mean, I don't know much about cars, but I still know a nice BMW when I see one. I climbed in the passenger's seat. It was so warm inside.

"So where do you live?" Oh My God! I totally forgot about my little brother! Shit!

"455 Garrard Rd," I answered, not showing my inner turmoil.

"Ok. I know where that is. You live around the corner from Duncan." The guy only moved here two weeks ago and he already knows where Duncan lives?

"Yeah."

"So, why aren't you going to Geoff's party?"

"Well, I don't usually go."

"But why not? I don't mean to pry or anything but Bridgette's always there and you know Geoff and Duncan. Then there's the fact that like half the school goes."

"I'm not exactly good with people. Plus, if half the school's there that always means Heather's there," I spat out the name.

"Ahh. I take it you hate Heather," he caught on.

"Hate is a nice word for it. We've hated each other since grade 2."

"Well, even if Heather's there. I was kind of hoping….." he trailed off.

Please, please say what I think you were going to say! He took his hand off the steering wheel and rubbed it on the back of his neck.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I was wondering if maybe…..possibly…..you might want to…maybe go as…my…..date?" He kind of whispered the last part. I heard it loud and clear though.

"You mean as like your **date** date?" I clarified.

"Yeah." Whispered once again. A slow smile found its way onto my lips.

"Here's my house." That was all I said. I rolled down the window and got out of the car. I closed the door and looked at him through the window.

"Yes." One word. That's all it took. A massive grin spread across his face.

"Great! I'll pick you up for school tomorrow." I walked inside. Then I realized something. No little brother jabbing questions at me from every direction. Something was _**seriously**_ wrong. Where the hell was he? Why wasn't he bugging me? As weird as he is and as annoying as he was….I missed it. I wanted him to be here bugging me like a little brother should. Like he always did. What happened? Where is he?

_**To be continued soon…..**_

**A/N: Kind of a cliff hanger. Not really. I am planning something really sad for the next chapter. It's nothing to serious but her brother is going to not be bugging her for a little while and it has something to do with her diary. It's not anything big but it really makes you value your siblings. I have 2 older brothers I know how annoying they can get but I love them anyway. Anyway R&R. Don't forget to put in any ideas or criticisms you have! :D **

**Madi **


	3. Home and School

**A/N: Hope you guys liked the last chapter! Keep reviewing I love getting them, the longer the better! This chapter is all about Gwen's life at home and with her bro, and of course some TXG moments. Hope you like the little sibling moments! ;) ;) **

**Madi **

I went up to my room. I couldn't hear a sound. I knew my mom wouldn't be home from work yet. My dad had walked out on us 2 years ago. We were better off without him anyway. My brother should be home by now. He was always home when I came home from work. He would've jumped at the chance to interrogate Trent. If he had of gone to a friend's house after school there would be a note on the kitchen table, but there was nothing.

I looked into his room. He was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. He didn't even acknowledge that I had come into the room.

"Yo, Twerp. What's up with you? I was expecting a full out interrogation of my ride home. It nearly scared me to death when I came in." I looked at him. Nothing. Not a nod, nothing.

I said again, "Twerp? What's wrong?" My voice softened as my worry got worse. "Hey buddy, you can tell me anything. You know that right?"

He didn't move, just kept staring at the ceiling.

"Jeremy? Come on, talk to me. What is it? Girl problems?" I tried.

He finally turned towards me. He looked directly into my eye and said in the coldest voice you could ever imagine, "Why should I? You don't care about me at all. I'm just 'the little bug on your windshield,' 'the little birdy who doesn't stop chirping.' THAT'S ALL I AM TO YOU!"

I stood there mouth open, stunned. "Jer…" A whisper was all I could muster. He ran to me practically throwing me out the door. He was a strong 11 year old. It helped that I was so stunned I couldn't fight back, but still. He slammed the door in my face. I just stood there.

He had quoted my diary. "The little bug on your windshield, the little birdy who doesn't stop chirping." That was from last week. I was so mad at him I had ranted and raved in my diary for hours until I had cooled off. I hadn't meant any of it of course. I was just really, really, really P.O'd. He had went into my room and taken half my bras to his school to fly up the flag pole. I had been so mad; I mean I didn't even go to his school! He must have gone to read my diary and flipped open to that page. He didn't even bother looking through the rest of it. I had written maybe 2 entry's tops on how annoying he was. That was the worst one, but I had written so many entry's on how he was like my own personal knight in shining armor. And he was. He always had been my little knight in shining armor. I had called him that since he was a kid.

I walked back to my room. I had to make this right. He was so mad at me right now. I would make it up to him. I went to the kitchen. I would make his favorite for dinner. Spaghetti and Italian meatballs that would soften him up for sure. Then I could give him a break for a week on how much he reads my diary. He'd forgive me after that. Right..?

I called him down for dinner. He came down, but he looked lifeless. Then he saw what I had cooked. He stopped and looked. Then his eyes widened and he blinked once, really hard.

He looked at me uncertain, "You….You did all this….for me?"

I looked at him. "You didn't happen to flip the page a couple times and look at the entry a couple days later, did you?"

"No, sis, I saw that and just threw it back into your room."

"Well, bro, if you had of you would see that you are my knight in shining armor."

"Wow. You haven't called me that in ages."

"Yeah, well, get used to it, Jer."

"Love yah, Gwen. You're the best big sister anyone could ever have!"

I ran to him. He ran to me. It was a sappy, chessy moment, but I loved it.

I hugged him tight. "Love yah, too. I couldn't ask for a better little brother."

We stood there for a little while. He finally broke it saying, "You didn't burn the spaghetti, did you?"

"You're kidding right! I am the master of cooking pasta!" Actually, no. I always forget about it and it ends up burning. This time I made sure to get it just right though. This was important.

We had the best dinner. Then we watched a movie. My mom came home and saw us curled up on the couch. She looked at us opened her mouth as if to say something and then snapped it shut again. She went into the kitchen. All we heard from her was, "Jeremy you made pasta?"

I sat there amazed. She knew Jeremy couldn't cook! Was I really _**that**_ bad?

"Um…. No mom. Gwen made it."

"Gwen, honey, you made this?"

"Ummm. Yeah."

"It's good, sweetheart."

No one said anything. Jeremy and I just watched the movie while mom did work. When the movie was over around 11 Jeremy and I went in to kiss mom goodnight and then went up to bed.

When I was putting my shoes on the next morning I heard the doorbell. I was puzzled for a sec. Then I realized. Trent. Oh No! Now that my little brother was back full throttle this was going to be a disaster! I ran to the door. Too late.

"Hi! Who are you? I'm Gwen's little brother, Jeremy. What are you doing here? Are you here for Gwen?"

I was ready for Trent to be totally creeped out. Definitely not.

"I'm Trent. I'm here to take Gwen to school."

"Ooohhhh." His expression went from innocent to viscious within seconds. I looked over at Trent. He was keeping his cool pretty well. He must have had experience with little kids.

Jeremy stood up as tall as he could and looked Trent in the eye. "If you don't bring my sister back I will come find you."

That was enough, time for an intervention. "Hey Trent, thanks for coming to pick me up. It's a whole lot better than walking." As I said this Jeremy looked up at me; I looked back and he walked off. He wouldn't bother Trent if he came around again.

"It was no problem, Gwen."

"I'm sorry you had to meet the little terror that is my brother."

"He seems like a sweet little kid that's just worried about you."

"Yeah….some days. Let's get to school before we're late."

I rode in the passenger's seat. We talked and then we played a little game of 20 questions; except the questions were about ourselves. He finally asked me about my parents. When he got to my dad I went silent. He looked over at me. "What is it, Gwen? You can trust me."

Could I really? The only ones who knew about him walking out on me were Courtney, Bridgette, Duncan and Geoff. I had to keep it on a low profile so Heather didn't use it against me. Because, trust me, she would.

I looked away and whispered. It was the best I could do. "He walked out on us 2 years ago. I haven't seen him since. He hasn't bothered to call write a letter, nothing. No one has seen or heard from him since. And I mean no one."

"Oh. Are you okay with it? I mean if you were 16 you must've been close."

"He and Jeremy were closer. After he walked out Jeremy needed a lot of support and I was the one that gave it to him. That's when he became so over protective like he is now. That's also when I decided no one would ever hurt him in that way again."

We were both silent for the rest of the car ride. It was a comfortable silence though, not an awkward one. That's what I liked about Trent. He always listened and knew when to stop pushing. That was something Duncan and Courtney could learn.

When we got to school we were almost late. Lucky for us they started later because of some stupid staff meeting about how the library got trashed. After all the stuff Duncan's done the teachers still don't realize whenever anything happens Duncan is involved somehow. All of the kids know, though no one would tell in case Duncan found out that it was them. That would not go well.

During second period Bridgette sat beside me. She looked at me expectantly.

"What, Bridge?"

"Well, Gwen. Are you going to tell me what happened with Trent last night or do I have to beat it out of you?"

The bell rang. Talk about saved by the bell. 'I'll tell you between periods' I mouthed to her. She nodded back and gave me one of those 'If you don't you're so dead' looks.

After class Bridgette made sure she was with me the whole time so I had to tell her.

"Well."

"Well, Bridge. He drove me home we talked. I'm going as his date to Geoff's party and he drove me to school today."

"Back up a sec, Gwen. You're going to Geoff's _party._ And you're going as _Trent's date._ Don't you think that's kind of important to know?"

"It's not that big of a deal, Bridge."

"Are you kidding me, Gwen? This is a HUGE deal. Who would've thought that getting you a date would get you to Geoff's parties? I mean, come on, how could we have missed that?"

"BRIDGETTE!"

"Hey guys!"

"Oh, hey Trent," I said.

"So you're still coming with me to Geoff's party, right Gwen?"

" Yeah. I'll be there, don't worry, Trent."

"K, I'll see you later."

"Yeah. Later." I was blushing. Really badly. I knew Bridgette was going to ask more questions. The bell rang. Thank God for that bell.

**A/N: Hope you guys liked this chapter! Since its Christmas break I'll be at my cottage most of the time I won't be uploading for a while because it is a dial-up connection, which means it takes like an hour to load one page on the internet. However, once New Years comes you will be bombarded with chapters. That's a cool word. Bombarded. Anyways enjoy and keep reviewing! R&R peeps, R&R! :D :D :D **

**Madi **


	4. The Door

**A/N: This is a really short chapter, but read carefully and see if you can guess what happens next!**

**Madi **

The rest of the day dragged by, until 5th period, of course. Trent came and sat in the seat next to me. He was about to say something and then the bell rang. That stupid freaking bell needs to leave me alone!

He wrote something on a piece of paper and passed it to me.

_Wear something nice when I pick you up for Geoff's party tonight._

**Why?**

_Because I'm going to take you out for dinner before we go._ I smiled. He is so cute. And so nice too. I hate to admit it, but I'm falling for him. Hard.

I blushed. He was looking at me and he saw it. A small gentle smile crept onto his lips. He was glad that I was blushing. That means he knows I'm crushing on him! The bell rang. Class was over and I had absolutely no idea what had gone on, I was too focused on tonight.

"I'll talk to you later, K, Gwen?"

"Yeah. I'm excited for tonight."

"Good."

I watched him walk away. Then I went to my locker and went home since I didn't have to work, thank God. I called Bridgette and got her to come over, since I had absolutely no idea what to wear to this party.

The door bell rang. I went down stairs and opened it.

"Hey, Bridge….." That isn't Bridgette. No…..No…..No…..

**A/N: I know it is a massive cliff hanger and a really short chapter, but I promise to have the next chapter uploaded by tomorrow night. I was going to add this on to the last chapter but I decided to be evil and torture you guys a little bit. Sorry! R&R! See if you can guess who is at the door!**

**Madi **


	5. Comfort in ALL ways

**A/N: Ok. So someone guessed who was at the door. That was **_**TrueJackVP408! **_**Congrats you were right! This chapter has some really cute moments in it; it also has some swearing in it. I use the actual word not a bunch of stars and junk, that's just a heads up. Hope you like this chapter and enjoy!**

**Madi **

It couldn't be. I closed the door and opened it again. Nope, he was still there. I slammed the door in his face and ran to my room.

After two years he actually dared to show up at our house again. Doesn't he know how much pain he's caused, how much we missed him when he left…..how our life fell apart…

_Maybe he doesn't know. Maybe he just wants to make things better._

_You know what, voice; you can just shut the hell up at the moment because if he wanted to make things better he either,  
a) shouldn't have left in the first place  
or  
b) shouldn't have come back._

Don't you hate those little voice in your head? They always come out when you don't want to talk to them and they always say the wrong thing.

The door bell rang again. I could hear someone's feet padding toward the door. Someone with little feet. Jeremy.

"No, Jeremy, don't-" It was too late. He had opened the door. I ran to the top of the stairs. I could see Jeremy open mouthed just looking at our father. He stumbled backwards. Then he ran up past me to his room. I could hear the little shudders of his breath as he tried not to cry. My little knight in shining armor. . . crying. That rarely happened.

I looked down the stairs to the door. It was still open. He walked in and looked up at me. I could feel the silent tears streaming down m face.

"LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE! WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE! WHY DID YOU BOTHER TO COME BACK?"

"Gwen, I just want things to be the way they used to."

"That will _**never**_ happen. We can't just go back to the way things were. Not after what you did to us. Now, get the fuck out of our house."

I turned and walked away. I was still crying. I knew I should go comfort Jeremy, but he would only cry harder if he saw me like this. I went to my room and took out my phone just as the doorbell rang. No one went to get it. I knew that if it was Bridgette she would just come in. And I was right. She walked in and came up to my room.

"Hey, Gwen, for the party tonight…." She stopped dead. I just sat there and looked back.

Her voice was a soft comforting voice. "What happened, G?"

"2 years he was gone. Then he shows up and expects to be part of the family just like that." My voice was barely a whisper. If she hadn't been hugging me so close she wouldn't have heard me.

She pulled back.

"He's here? In the house? Right now?" A nod was all I could manage. Her face went stone cold. She had never liked my dad; merely put up with him because she was my friend.

"Jeremy?"

"He saw him. Bridge, I can't let Jer see me like this. What am I going to do? And what about the party tonight?"

"Gwen, don't worry about anything." She pulled out her cell phone and walked out of the room.

**Bridgette's POV**

I walked out of her room. Seeing Gwen like that….it was heart breaking. Nothing ever made her or Jeremy cry. I dialed Courtney's number. I looked at my watch. She would be off in 15 minutes. She would come after that no matter what she had going on.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Courtney. You need to come to Gwen's right now."

"Bridgette, I'm a little busy to worry about Gwen's fashion crises."

"Courtney, hear me out for a sec. Her dad's back an—"

"WHAT?"

"I said, hear me out. He came back today and Jeremy and Gwen are a mess. There is no way she can go to the party tonight and she really needs us right now. I don't think I'm going to go either. You can still go with Duncan if you want."

"No chance. Gwen really needs us right now. I'll be there in 10 minutes."

One down, four to go. I called Geoff.

"Yola." Only Geoff would answer a phone like that.

"Hey, Geoff. Listen Courtney, Gwen, and I aren't coming to the party tonight."

"Aw, babe, why?"

"Gwen's dad came back."

Silence.

"Geoff?"

"Maybe I should cancel the party so we can all be there for her."

"I don't know. I mean, you've planned this for a while and a lot of people are looking forward to it…"

"But if one of my friends needs me then I'm going to be there; too bad for everyone else. This is going to be hard for Gwen and she's going to need all the support she can get, not to mention how Jeremy will be holding up. How is the little guy?"

"I haven't seen him yet, but by the sound of it, not to good."

"I'll be there in 5. Later."

"Bye."

That makes two. Duncan next. He's going to be pissed off. If he comes that means he'll talk to Gwen's dad. Duncan felt the same way as me when it came to Gwen's dad, but Duncan could handle him where as I just avoided him at all costs.

"Yo."

"Duncan, I need you at Gwen's right now."

"Whoa, Bridge, slow down and tell me what's up?"

"Um…you aren't going to like this, but Gwen's dad's back."

"What?" God, he could make his voice sound scary when he wanted.

"Yeah. She and Jeremy aren't holding up to well and she's crying really hard right now."

"Gwen. Crying. Give me 10 minutes. And tell her dad I want to talk to him."

"Bye." I was too late. He had already hung up. Guess there would be no point in calling him back and telling him Geoff cancelled the party.

Trent next. He's going to be devastated about the party being canceled so he can't go with Gwen. Did he even know about her dad?

I popped into the room.

"Hey, honey, I'm just going to call Trent to tell him you're in no shape to go to the party. What should I tell him?"

"The truth." The truth? He must know then. Right?

"Okay, sweetie."

I went back into the hall. I dialed Trent's number. I got it from Geoff a couple days ago because he and Gwen were getting so close.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Trent, it's Bridgette."

"Oh, hi Bridgette, what's up?"

"Well, Trent, I was just calling to tell you that Geoff has cancelled his party and Gwen is having a hard time right now."

"What do you mean Gwen's having a hard time? Is everything ok? What happened?"

"I don't know how much you know about Gwen's dad, but he's back."

"What do you mean he's back, Bridgette?"

"As in he is downstairs in her house right now and Jeremy and Gwen are crying in their rooms. Not to mention Gwen can't comfort Jeremy because if he saw her crying he wouldn't be able to live with himself."

"Tell Gwen I'm on my way."

"Trent, I don't think-" What it is with guys and hanging up before your done?

I walked back into the room.

**Gwen's POV**

Bridgette walked back into my room.

"Gwen? Duncan, Geoff, Courtney, and Trent are on their way here. They should be here soon."

Just then I heard the door open and heard someone come up the stairs. Two people. I looked up in the doorway. It was Geoff and Courtney. Courtney looked at me and then rushed over. She wrapped her arms around me in the biggest hug ever. Usually I hate it when she and Bridgette do this kind of thing to me but right now I really needed it and it felt good.

Then Geoff came over. He didn't hug me. I mean, he's a guy and his girlfriend is in the room. He came and sat down beside me and put one arm around me. I leaned into him and cried. He squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.

"Ummmm…."

We all looked at Bridgette.

"Did I mention how Duncan is very…eager to talk to your dad?"

"Good. Let him, for once I don't mind." I didn't care if Duncan decided to beat him up. All I knew was I was way too upset about this and I just wanted my dad to disappear off the face of the earth.

I heard the door slam against the wall as someone threw it open and then 2 sets of footsteps coming up the stairs. All of a sudden Trent and Duncan were here too.

Duncan looked at me.

"You promised, Gwen."

It took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about.

_-Flashback-_

_I'm crying on my bed. Its 2 days after my dad walked out on us. My room looks just like it did now, minus Trent. _

_Duncan looks at me. You can see how much it's killing him the way I'm crying. _

"_Gwen, promise me if you ever see him again that it will be as if you have no idea who he is; that if you ever see him walking down the street it will be as if he is just another guy; that he will never make you upset again no matter what happens."_

_I looked into his eyes. He was really worried about me._

"_I promise Duncan."_

"_Good."_

_I wasn't kidding when I said he was my big brother and my best friend._

_-End of Flashback-_

Now everyone except Trent knew what he was talking about.

I sniffed and tried to stop crying. It almost worked, I could talk without hiccuping. I looked directly at him and said with the best voice I could manage, "Promises change sometimes, Duncan."

Everybody just looked at me. It seemed as if everyone just kind of faded into the background, as if they were trying to let us talk in private without leaving in case this whole thing exploded.

"Not promises like this one, Gwen. Promises like this stay the same forever, there is no changing them because it's more extreme than you planned."

"Well, Duncan, sometimes things aren't just more extreme than you plan, sometimes things seem like the people in power are torturing you because you finely found happiness after having the worst time of your life. Sometimes things blow up so much that there is nothing other than what's happening right in front of you. Like when the man who raised you is downstairs and yet you find yourself hating him and have no idea why you are crying over it when you should be comforting your younger brother who is now in his room crying and you can't go to him because seeing you cry would only upset him more and he has NO ONE in there to comfort him. So don't go telling me what promises can and can't change, Duncan, not now." I found myself nearly shouting by the end.

Everybody came up from the background; ready to intervene when Duncan exploded. They didn't know him like I did the only one who stayed put was Courtney because she knew what would happen now.

He ran and yelled as loud as he could, to make sure that Jeremy heard because Jeremy loved Duncan, "DOG PILE ON GWEN!"

I curled up into a ball and everyone jumped on me all at once. I heard the little feet run down the hall and jump onto my bed. Thank the lord for Duncan. If anyone else had said it Jeremy would be crying even harder than ever.

I was laughing by now. Everyone was. Duncan always knew what to do in times of crisis. Everyone is pretty sure it was because of juvey but who knows.

Everyone got off me and sat on the bed. Trent had known what Duncan was going to do and had been the first one on me, now he was sitting right beside me. I looked over and he offered a small, comforting smile, to me it amounted to a massive hug. I gave him a small smile in return. His eyes lit up. His forest green eyes. His endlessly deep forest green eyes. His _gorgeous_ endlessly deep forest green eyes…. I really needed to stop!

"DUNCAN NO!"

I was broken out of my revery by Courtney.

"Come, on Courtney. You can't honestly expect me not to talk to him."

Jeremy came and curled up in my lap. I hugged him. His eyes were all red and puffy from crying. We must have been something to look at.

"Courtney, just let him go. We'll all go so that we can make sure nothing happens." Bridgette always was the voice of reason.

"That's smart then we can give Duncan some back up, too," Trent piped up.

I looked at Jeremy, eyebrows raised asking if he was okay. He looked back and smiled.

I leaned forward and whispered, "My knight in shining armor." So that only he could hear.

Everyone got up off the bed. Jeremy started to get up. I was about to stop him when Geoff stepped in.

"Hey, Jeremy, why don't you sit this one out buddy?" Jeremy just looked at him as if he were saying the Jeremy was going to lose a leg.

"I'll let you drive the quad next time your over."

It was a good try but sometimes Jeremy could not be reasoned with.

I looked at him, "Jeremy, you need to stay up here. I don't know what Duncan is going to say and I don't want you in the middle of it."

He looked at me and could tell I was serious. He dragged his feet all the way to his room. I turned to Geoff and said, "You realize he still expects to drive the quad next time."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that."

Trent came and helped me off the bed. As everyone started to walk out of my room Trent put a hand on the small of my back to put me before him. It sent little tingles up my spine. The good kind. This was not good. This is not how you should act around a guy who is _just your friend_! That's all he is! Damn it! Why the hell am I trying to convince _myself_!

K, time to focus. We are going downstairs to talk to the man who raised me and then walked out. I need to be prepared for the worst and to be prepared in case Duncan takes a lunge for him. Here we go. . .

**A/N: I know it is a **_**massive**_** cliff hanger, and I'm sorry to say that I will probably not update again until after New Years! I know that this is going to possibly torture you guys a bit but it is important you know that there is a massive twist coming up! And here's a hint. It involves Duncan and Gwen and a little story behind Gwen's parent's marriage! **_**Gasp!**_** I am not kidding it is definitely gasp worthy! R&R and please give me ideas on mew chapters and ways to improve my writing skills! Tanx a lot! **

**Madi **


	6. The Battle

**A/N: I'm sooooooooooooooooo sorry to all my reader's! I know I said I would update after new years, but I didn't have my laptop with me over new years, and then with going back to school and everything I didn't have time to type a chapter, but here it is! I hope you like it and I will try to update ASAP, but in the meantime enjoy!**

**Madi **

We walked down the stairs. Jeremy had stayed up in his room. He needed to stay there. I didn't know what was going to happen. We all walked into the living room. Me and my friends; Duncan at the front with Courtney and me on either side of him with Trent, Geoff and Bridgette flanking us. It was like walking back into a battle field, but we had fully loaded guns this time.

Duncan cleared his throat. My dad looked up.

"Ah…Duncan, if I remember right? And Courtney is the lovely chocolate brown beside you? Along with Bridgette and Geoff the two blondes? I don't seem to recall the young black-haired boy… and of course my dearest Gwen."

Bridgette exploded. We were all shell-shocked. I mean, she was the voice of reason, she didn't get mad, she was the one that sat down and talked everything out, but when she stepped in front of us we all just let her go. She was a loose cannon and he was her target.

"That's it. I put up with your bullshit since grade 2 when I moved here, but screw it. You lost all the respect any of us had for you the moment you walked out, so you better remember our names. And don't you dare start talking about Gwen like you've known for the past 2 years, because things have changed and you aren't part of them so get the hell out of this city and back to wherever the hell you came from!"

"Actually, Bridgette, you bring up an interesting point. I have never left the city over the past 2 years. I have been staying just around the corner. Across the street from Duncan to be precise."

We all just looked at him like he was crazy. And at this moment he probably was. We all knew what was across the street from Duncan's house. It was an old abandoned farm house that had been half burned down. No way could someone survive there in the winter. They would probably freeze to death. Then again my dad did have some special training in that field. But that's another story for another time.

"Across the street from me." "Across the street from Duncan." Duncan and I said it simultaneously.

I started screaming at him. "Then you must have known what we went through! It's not as though no one talked about it! Why did you never come back, why did you never let us know about it?"

"Gwen, I couldn't let you know about it." There was something in his voice, something that wasn't there before. Regret. Regret? And then it was in his eyes, a shadow, just for a moment.

"If I had of told you, you would've told your mother and then I would have had to explain something to her that she didn't need to know then. Something you need to know now."

We all stood there. Duncan looked murderous as if he could kill my dad with a flick of his wrist if he said one more thing out of line. Bridgette looked almost the same although she could never lay a hand on him. Courtney had a blank expression. I knew her well enough to know that this was her way of coping. She was trying to get her head ready for the story that was about to come. Geoff, well, Geoff looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here, but he wouldn't stray from any of our sides. Not at a time like this. Then I looked at Trent. He was looking at me. Trying to figure out if I was okay, whether I wanted him here or not. He had moved up to stand directly beside me and the back of our hands brushed. We both looked away, and then I did something that surprised me. I reached out and took his hand and gave it a little reassuring squeeze. . . and, to my surprise, he squeezed back. We turned back to my father. He was looking over all of us. His gaze rested on me. Then he took a step towards me. Within the blink of an eye Trent, Duncan, and Geoff were in front of me blocking him from getting any closer. Bridgette and Courtney were on either side of me, a hand on each arm ready to grab me and run at a moment's notice. Like I said, we had walked into a battle field.

My dad sighed. "Gwen, before your mother and I got married—"

"We've heard this story too many times." Duncan never was a patient person.

"If you let me finish, Duncan, you would know that this story will benefit you as well." The room fell silent. No one and I mean no one told Duncan what to do. He hated it. He even flipped out on his own mother once and ran away from home. We were in grade 5 and he ran to my house, but it still counts. Anyway, the point is no one gets away with pushing Duncan around. I reached out and put a hand on Duncan's arm as Courtney did the same. He automatically relaxed, but I knew he was storing this in his brain for later use.

"As I was saying before we got married, Michelle and I called off our engagement after a very pointless and meaningless fight. It was for about a month and I happen to have an affair with someone else—"

"Do we honestly need to hear this, man?" Geoff never liked health. Or anything to do with a love story.

"Oh, please. Don't call him a man. He hardly deserves it." To everyone's pleasant surprise, it had been Trent that spoke. Duncan gave him a little pat on the shoulder and I had a little smile on my face.

"Alright, look here, _boy—"_That was all it took. Duncan had had enough. He flung himself on my dad and they went into a full blown fight. Geoff and Trent were hovering around them waiting to jump in and help Duncan (like he was going to need it) or break up the fight if someone was going to get seriously injured. Meanwhile, Bridgette, Courtney and I were making sure they didn't run into anything. I really didn't want my mom to come home and see one of her favorite vases broken, or for Jeremy to see his glass soldiers. . . Jeremy!

I turned and ran back to the stairs and looked up to the landing. There was Jeremy, looking like a ghost. His face was the palest white I had ever seen, his eyes big and round with the pupils dilated. I whispered up, "Jer. . . My little knight? Are you okay? How much did you hear?"

He looked down at me. "How could he have an affair with someone other than Mom? How could he do that Gwen?" He ran back to his room. I was about to go upstairs when I heard it.

_**CRASH!**_

Fuck! That's perfect, just prefect! Exactly what I need right now! I ran into the living room. Everyone was frozen. I opened my mouth, but my words got caught in my throat. I stood there looking at the face of my mother, the pieces of her favorite vase on the floor and her standing there staring us all down. My dad and Duncan were up off the floor. Duncan had a split lip. Once it stopped bleeding you won't know he had been in a fight. My dad on the other hand was favoring one leg, had a black eye and a nose bleed. Come to think of it his nose was probably broken.

My mom. . . she was just furious. She had this way when she was mad. She doesn't stand there glaring at you. She just looks at you with a blank face and flat eyes. It looks almost as if she has no feeling in them. A lot of people say I'm like that too.

When she talks on the other hand. . . that's how you know she's mad. In this case she wasn't even mad. She was furious, completely pissed off at every person in the room.

"Well. . . " She wouldn't look at my dad. In fact she spoke as if he wasn't even there, as if he didn't even exist. "Duncan, I thought I talked to you about not getting into full blown fights in my living room. Not to mention there is now blood all over my white rug. Bridgette, Courtney, I thought you two would know better than to get caught up in this. Geoff. . ." This was going to be harsh. My mom had always liked Geoff best. "You have always been loyal to your friends, but considering what happened here, maybe you should reconsider exactly how loyal you are. I don't want you to get into any trouble on our behalf, especially with. . . " No one knew how that sentence was going to end, but everyone knew it wouldn't be pretty. Fortunately for us, she left it hanging. "Gwen, honey, I thought we talked about how many friends to have over and what you could do when I'm not home and you are taking care of your brother. . . " She stopped and looked at Trent. Then back at me. She sounded dismayed. "Not to mention what our new guest must think of our family now that he has seen all this." She turned back to Trent. "I am so sorry about this, you must think we are complete barbarians. I'm Michelle, Gwen's mom, if you haven't already guessed. And you are?"

"I'm Trent. It's lovely to meet you, Michelle."

"Oh, what a gentleman. It's nice to meet you too, Trent. I am sorry about the circumstances, though."

"Don't worry. Every family has its off days."

The room went silent. My mom had finally acknowledged my dad. I waited. I wanted to see that plain blank look on her face, but instead, it was filled with love, such love that she had only shown to Jeremy when he had broken his arm or when he was cuddling up against her. She had never given me that look, and sure it had stung a bit when she gave it to Jeremy, but he was the youngest and the only boy amongst us two girls, but to see her give that look to _**my dad**_. . . that just plain tore my heart out. I could tell Duncan, Courtney, Bridgette and Geoff knew it too, by the looks on their faces. Trent didn't know, how could he. I staggered back a few steps. My mom didn't even take notice, but Trent did. He tried to catch my eye, but I was staring at my mother.

She just looked at him and he looked at her with the exact same expression. No. . . . . .no. . . no, no, no! This could not be happening. She couldn't possibly be letting him back into our lives just like that! Then I remembered. . . she didn't know about the affair. I was about to open my mouth to say something, when Courtney clamped her hand over it and all but dragged me up to my room. Everyone followed. When we got there she put me down on the bed and turned to Duncan, "Close the door," was all she said.

I looked at her. She had an uncertain look on her face. Courtney was never uncertain. She looked like she had something to say but didn't know how to say it.

"Courtney, if you have something to say, say it now or forever hold your peace because I want to get back down there and shake some sense into my mother."

"Gwen. . . umm. . . maybe it's better off this way."

No one moved a muscle. We all just stared at her. There were things Courtney had said in the past and I hadn't liked them, but I kept my mouth shut about it. This. . . this was beyond anything humanly possible. Even Duncan, who was usually obsessed with her and was always on her side, just stood and stared. Clearly she was somewhere else five minutes ago while Duncan was wrestling my dad on the floor.

I made my voice determined, hard, clear, and as cold as a Popsicle in winter. "Explain." I put all my rage, all my distaste, every ounce of every emotion I was feeling right now into that one word and she got the message loud and clear.

"I just mean that. . . well, you saw the look on your mom's face. I have never seen her look like that before."

"Then clearly you've never seen her and Jeremy curled up on the couch watching a movie."

To my relief I wasn't the only one who felt this way. Duncan was the first to speak up, as always. "Courtney, if you think, for one second, that the person downstairs deserves to be in this house than maybe you shouldn't be here right now."

Trent was next. "Courtney, I haven't known Gwen nearly as long as you. I didn't know what her dad was like before he left. But even I know that someone who causes this much pain to a family like this should never be allowed back. And I know you're a stickler for rules, so I thought that meant the rules of family too. I guess I was wrong. I stand with Duncan."

Then Geoff. "Courtney. . . friends and family should come before anything. You know that. And we guys always stick together." He went and stood with Duncan and Trent.

Bridgette was the next one. "Court. . . " She didn't have to say anything else. She just cast her glance down and sat down on the bed beside me.

Now it was Courtney's turn. "I don't think the person downstairs deserves to be in this house, but I do think that Gwen's mom deserves happiness, and he obviously gives her that. The rules of family tend to bend a little here and there, but you should always want what's best for the other members of your family before yourself. And I am trying to think of Gwen here. I think she needs a paternal presence around."

I looked at her. She really was thinking about me and my family, whereas the rest of them were thinking about how this would affect me and my friendship with them. I decided something right then and there. Actually two things but the other one will come along later. . . the one I decided first was more important.

I walked over to my window, put my hands on my hips, closed my eyes, and leaned against it. I heard footsteps walking over. I figured it was Bridgette coming to put her arms around me, but the arms that were around me weren't Bridgette's. I could tell right away it was Trent. That little tingle went up my spine again. I turned and looked at him. His eyes were full of worry. He was worried about me. I stepped into him and wrapped my arms around him. He wrapped his arms around me too. We fit together perfectly. Like a baseball into a glove. My head fit right under his chin, so that when he pulled back a little and I looked up at him it was perfect. So peaceful. Then I turned to the rest of them.

"I've decided to give Courtney a chance." They looked at me like I was crazy.

"What I mean is, I will give him one week. In that week, if all doesn't crash and burn, I will decide whether I'll live here with him or not. What do you think?" I wasn't certain about their reaction, but I was pleased.

Trent stepped up from behind me and put his hand around my waist. I looked at him and he gave me a big smile. That's when he said something I would never have expected.

"Promise me that if it gets to be too much you'll come crash at my house for a night or two, just so you don't explode. K?"

I looked at him and nodded. I could feel my eyes start to water. I had only known him what? 3 months? Whatever, since school started, and he was already doing this for me? We weren't even a couple or anything. Yet, I guess. After how he's acted today I bet it won't be long.

Then Duncan came and gave me a big hug and said, "Don't worry about Jer, either. I'll take care of him."

I knew I could trust Duncan with my little bro.

Geoff came next. He gave me a full hug this time. "And if the little guy ever gets to be too much, I've got a quad at my house that needs a little drive now and then."

"Gwen, don't forget that Courtney and I have the best ears on the planet. If you ever need to talk I will personally sit beside the phone for the next week." Bridgette spoke for the both of them as Courtney was busy trying not to cry. I didn't realize it had meant that much to her.

I hugged her hard and tight, and Courtney hugged back harder and tighter. We were both crying now. She whispered in my ear, so that only I could here.

"I'm sorry. I will always be here for you." I didn't know what she was talking about, but I just let it go. I had my best friends and potential boyfriend with me to get through this.

That's when we went downstairs again. This time my mom was in the kitchen and my dad nowhere to be found. I walked up to her. She was crying. I put my arms around her.

"I know your worried about what Jeremy and I will think if you let him back into our life, but don't worry about us. Make this decision for yourself. If he makes you happy we'll live with it."

She looked at me and put her hand on my cheek.

"Gwen, honey, you grew up so fast, you know that? After your dad left you just matured right away. I never got to say good bye to my little girl. After that you were never my little girl again, but seeing you standing here with all your friends. . . " She started to sob. I hugged her and held her close.

"I may have matured Mom, but I will always be your little girl."

Then she said something I would never have even thought she would know about.

"Gwen, there something your Dad and I need to talk to you about and I think it's best if your friends weren't here." I just looked at her funny. Then I turned to my friends. Geoff, Bridgette, and Courtney looked like they were a little confused but they were alright with it. Duncan and Trent didn't look quite the same though. Trent was worried about what they were going to tell me, about what would happen to me. Duncan on the other hand was worried about what my dad was going to do. Neither of them wanted to leave.

That's when my mom said something I think just made everything worse.

"On second thought, Duncan, you might want to stay too." We all just looked at her. Just stared. Then Duncan and I exchanged a look. This couldn't be good. There wasn't even a remote possibility. On the up side, Trent seemed to relax a little knowing I'd have Duncan there. I walked my friends to the door. Duncan hung back a bit. I hugged Bridgette and Geoff good bye. Courtney was saying good bye to Duncan. This was a moment she decided to give him a little peck on the cheek. We all just happened to be paying a whole lot of attention. We all knew it was only a matter of time. Then she turned and saw everyone watching, all of us wearing the exact same smirk, and she blushed. She came and gave me a big hug and whispered, "Call me after." They all left, and Duncan decided it was a good time to raid our fridge. Trent came and hugged me, whispering in my ear, it sent little shivers down my back.

"Don't forget what I said upstairs. And don't forget to call me after so that I can pick you up for dinner." I was a little shocked. He was still going to take me out for dinner after all that happened? He knew me too well already.

"Dinner will be perfect," I whispered back. Then he pulled back, and looked at my eyes. His hands were still on the small of my back, mine still resting on his shoulders. That's when he started to lean in. Slowly at first, but I couldn't wait any longer. I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to me.

It was like a little taste of heaven in my front hallway. It was so perfect, so passionate. I could tell in just one kiss that he loved me, really loved me to the bone. And not because of the people I hung out with, but because I'm me. That was all any girl could ask for.

"Eh-em." We broke apart hastily and turned. There was Duncan, cookie in hand.

"You realize now that you've kissed her you two are officially a couple, right? And that means if you ever hurt her we all turn our back on you and you have to find some other people to hang out with. Got it?"

Trent looked at him. "I got it. No worries, Duncan, I plan to stick around for a long time."

He turned back to me. "Don't forget to call me after." Then he left.

"Duncan, why do you always have to ruin my moments? You're like the big brother I never had and it's getting kind of annoying."

"Whatever, goth girl." We were both grinning like idiots trying not to laugh at our horrible attempt at sarcasm.

We walked into the living room and my parents were sitting on the love seat. My dad had his hand on my mom's thigh and my mom had her hand on top of his. She looked so worried, as if her whole world could come crashing down after this conversation; that made my heart stop. What on earth could my mom have to tell me that was that bad? And what did Duncan have to do with any of this?

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"Gwen, sweetheart, maybe you should sit down for this."

"Michelle, what's going on?" Duncan was just as worried and confused as I was.

My dad shifted, and then he decided it's time we knew something, something neither of us would have guessed.

"Well, Duncan, Gwen, it started before Michelle and I got married. . . "

**A/N: I know this is a bit of a cliff hanger, but there is a really big flashback story coming up and I needed to start it on a new chapter because otherwise this chapter would have been like fifty feet long. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't forget to give me ideas on what to do in future chapters and how to improve my writing….. and see if you can guess what's coming up! I will try to update soon! **

**R&R my readers! R&R! :D**

**Madi **


	7. Your Kidding, Right?

**A/N: I know it has taken me forever to update and I'm sorry for it, but I promise that I will try and be more consistent! :D Here is the next chapter and it is a big shocker! Unless you already guessed it. That just means I'm predictable. Anyway, tell me what you think and I hope you enjoy it! :D :D **

**Madi**

"_Well, Duncan, Gwen, it started before Michelle and I got married. . . "_

That was how my dad began. When he went on, Duncan and I were both shocked.

"We called off the engagement for about a month over a stupid and meaningless fight, but that's not important right now. During that month both of us dated different people, before we both realized we needed each other and could never be happy without each other—"

"We managed to be quite happy without you, thank you very much!" I couldn't help myself; he thinks that Mom couldn't be happy without him! We were a really happy family after we coped with the fact that he was gone! I mean, we had our problems, but what family doesn't even if there is a man around the house!

"I know, Gwen, we did manage to be happy without your father, but I for one am much happier with him back. I wish you would try to be too."

"Mom, I will, but not at the moment."

Duncan leaned over and whispered in my ear. "I hated him even more than you and I'm holding it together better. Let them finish and then you can explode on him. Don't forget you promised you'd give him a week." Only I heard him, but I shut up, after saying one thing through clenched teeth.

"Go on."

"Thank you. As I was saying, we needed each other," I tried not to cringe. "But before that I did something that I'm not proud of. Your mother understands and I hope you will too. I don't plan on telling Jeremy yet, he's too young." He paused. In that pause I tried so hard not to yell at him to tell us, that included Jeremy too. He may be young, but he understood more than most little kids do.

"I had a very small affair with a woman. It only lasted about a week, but that week was enough. I got her pregnant." Okay, I may be 18 but I couldn't help but cringe at that. Even the big tough guy, Duncan over here, cringed. Neither of us was very fond of health class. I still needed to get to the point though.

"What does any of this have to do with Duncan?"

"Well, Gwen, that's the thing. The woman I got pregnant. . . well. . . she was Duncan's mother."

We both froze, just staring, with a blank expression on our faces, at my parents. . . well, my mom and. . . our dad (that sounds so wrong!). My mom's eyes were pleading, begging me to understand. My dad looked ashamed. Ashamed? Yeah, that was the word. How could he even think about acting ashamed when Duncan was in the room? I mean how were we supposed to know whether he was ashamed of cheating on my mom, or ashamed of being Duncan's father. I couldn't take it anymore; I got up and walked to the window. Windows were like my sanctuary.

My voice shock, against my will, "So," I swallowed, "Duncan's my half brother?"

"Yes, sweetie, that's right." My mom's voice was strained, trying to figure out whether I was okay with it or whether I was going to explode.

I turned and looked at Duncan. He was staring into space. As if he sensed my eyes on him he looked at me. It hit me like a rock. He was so hurt. He had always thought that his father had died before he was born; at least that was what his mom told him. That she had known who his father was, and hadn't told him; that he had been living around the corner and had never said anything, it killed him. This was Duncan we were talking about, he never let any of his emotions show, and yet here his was looking as vulnerable as a little kid.

He stood up and we both walked outside. There was a nice little breeze.

"So, what do you think? Are they telling the truth?"

"It makes sense, Gwen. I was born almost exactly a month before you, and my mom never talked about my dad, I've never known him, never seen any pictures around the house of them being married, nothing."

"So, do we tell people or do we figure this out first? Maybe we could just tell our friends and then keep it on the DL?"

"I think we shouldn't tell anyone until we figure out what's going on. I'll come by tomorrow again and we'll talk, k?"

"Yeah. . . " He started to walk away. "Duncan, what about Courtney and Trent? Don't you think we should at least tell them? I mean, I'm going out with Trent right after this and he's going to want to know what the talk was about, couldn't I at least tell him?"

"Gwen. . . " He looked at the ground, uncertain on how to tell me no. I put on my best sappy face. Then he made the mistake of looking up. "Ugh, fine you can tell him, but I don't think I'm going to tell Courtney, because she'll get a million lawyers on it all at once."

"All right. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah. . . " As he walked home his shoulders were slumped, deep in thought, and that was rare for Duncan. I was a little worried about him.

I went up to my room and leaned against the window looking down on the street. I watched Duncan walk by and saw him stop for a second. He looked up and saw me at the window. He gestured for me to open the window. When I opened it he said, "Jeez sis, what is it with you and windows?" It sounded foreign to me, hearing him calling me sis. It really shouldn't though, over the years we have always joked around about being sister and brother, never being serious of course, but he'd still called me sis before. _Maybe it was because this time it's true_, I thought.

"I don't know, bro, they just calm me down." We both broke out laughing. Laughter was good; it meant that we were still cool, that this didn't change anything. But it had changed everything. Everything was different now, and no one else knew about it. I had always had Bridgette or Courtney to rant to about everything, but now. . . oh well, I would tell Trent tonight. Then I could rant to him about it. Speaking of Trent, I have to call him.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Trent. It's Gwen."

"Gwen! Hey! How did it go? Are you okay? Do you still want to go for dinner?"

"Yeah. Um. . . actually we are going to have a lot to talk about at dinner. Where are we going?"

"Ok and I'm not telling you. I'll pick you up at 7. Dress nice."

He hung up. Dress nice? Oh boy. I looked through my closet. I only had a couple really nice dresses. I decided on my black one. It was gorgeous. It was a halter top with a V neck and it had a big diamond square that was tilted to look like a diamond at the bottom of the V. It then fell down to just above my knee. I settled for that with black heels instead of my chunky black boots. I put my hair up in a gorgeous messy bun, and left one strand of hair out and curled it. Some well-defined black eye-liner and a very nice, faint silver eye-shadow matched it perfectly. Along with some mascara, I was ready to go just as the doorbell rang.

I walked downstairs. Jeremy had let Trent in and he looked gorgeous. He was like a god sent down from heaven. He had on black dress pants and black dress shoes, with a white shirt that had the first button undone, and a black jacket that fit him perfectly. It was a classic outfit that would look good on any guy, but on him it looked. . . well, he looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch model. I walked down the stairs. He was looking at me like I was royalty or something. There was no way I looked _that_ good, I never looked that good.

I walked up to him. Even though I was in heels he still looked down on me.

He cleared his throat. "You look great."

"Not too bad yourself, handsome." I smiled.

"Bye, Mom."

"Bye, Gwen. And have a good time!"

We walked down the front step and he opened the car door. I got in, and he walked around to the driver's side. Once he got in I couldn't wait any longer. I know I sound like a slut but he was an amazing kisser and that suit didn't help my temptation. I leaned over and gave him a kiss, which he returned. Then I leaned back. "So, where are we going exactly?"

"You'll see, beautiful."

"Ooo, mysterious, I like it." I was still smiling like an idiot. I couldn't help it I was excited. Then Trent decided to get serious on me.

"So what did you mean when you said we would have a lot to talk about at dinner? Is everything okay? Is it something to do with what your parents told you and Duncan?"

The smile vanished from my face within a second.

"Well, that's the thing. What I'm about to tell you is exactly what my parents told us, except that Duncan and I agreed that we weren't going to tell anyone else. Duncan isn't even going to tell Courtney, so you have to keep quiet. K?"

"Are you sure I should know this, Gwen? I mean, if Duncan isn't even telling Courtney. . . " He left the sentence unfinished. Duncan was obsessed with Courtney. This was serious though and I needed to talk to someone other than Duncan about it.

"No, I need you to know this. Part of it is that I am going to need someone other than Duncan to talk to and the other thing is that I am going to be spending a hell of a lot of time with Duncan and I need you to know why." _So you don't get jealous,_ I thought.

"All right. If you think so, then I'm all ears. And I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Well, before my parents got married. . . " I told him the whole thing. Every word, every detail. When I finished I looked out the window. My eyes were blurry and I was trying not to cry. I couldn't believe myself! I've only cried a handful of times in my life and I bet you over half of them have been in the last two days!

I couldn't see anything out the window, but we stopped and Trent turned off the car. He hadn't said anything about the whole brother sister thing yet, and I wanted to know what he thought. He got out of the car and came to my side. He opened the door and looked at me. His eyes were so full of. . . of love. . . wow. When did I turn into such a sap?

"So, now you have a big brother. And on top of that, he already acts like it. Why are you crying about it? It doesn't change anything at all. Now, come on. We're here." The way he said it made me believe him. Duncan has always been my big brother, now it's just official. And why does anything have to change? Trent was right. I looked up and lost my train of thought.

We were standing in front of the most beautiful restaurant you could possibly imagine. It had a Roman vibe to it. There were white columns' on the outside with a beautiful arch. It had big white doors on it with handles shaped like horses. We walked in. It was so romantic. There was faint music playing in the background and the small chatter could be heard. There were two candles on every table that were lit and gave off a really nice lavender smell. Trent took my hand and led me to a small private table in the back. It was like he had known me my whole life. It was perfect. HE was perfect. . . and he was all mine.

**A/N: I know it was kind of a crummy ending for a chapter. The next chapter you get a little insight on Duncan's house and his life at home…..mwahahaha. I am hoping to update ASAP. Please let me know if you have any ideas or whatever. So R&R everybody!**

**p.s. If you are wondering what the dress looks like copy and paste this URL. It is a gorgeous dress. I would wear it for a special occasion in a heartbeat. **

**Madi**


	8. Not Jeremy!

**A/N: I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry to all my readers! I know it has taken me forever to update, but I had to get my laptop ghosted so it took forever! Please enjoy this chapter and I will try to update ASAP!**

**Madi**

**Duncan's POV**

As I walked home from Gwen's I didn't know what to think. How could my mom possibly keep this from me? That wasn't like her at all. Was she worried about what I would think? About what I would say? All these years she hasn't told me anything, and yet my dad has been living around the corner. I grew up without a man around, my dad was supposedly dead and my mom never dated. I always used to think my mom loved my dad too much to date again, but now. . . maybe it's still true. Maybe the reason she never dated was because she still loved Gwen's dad, I mean, my dad. Fuck! This was so confusing! I need to get away from it all.

When I went home I went straight to my room. I paced back and forth along my window. . . that's when I thought of how Gwen always went to windows when she was upset. . . we were more alike than we knew. That also explains why I was so overprotective of her. It was never because I loved her, like so many people thought, I only had eyes for Courtney, but because Gwen was my little sister, that made sense. That was how I always treated her, like a little sister. Like what she said in the front hallway of her house, when I caught her kissing Trent,_ "You're like the big brother I never had and it's getting kind of annoying."_ That made so much sense.

Then my mom walked in. She saw me at my window. Luckily there was a bed between us. My room is set up kind of weird. On one side is my big window. On the opposite wall are my door and my dresser. Then on another wall there is my bed, and opposite to that is my closet.

"Dunc, honey, what happened at Gwen's?"

I scoffed. "Like you don't know." I looked at her. She was hurt. Good, let her be hurt. She had hurt me even worse.

"Duncan, what are you talking about?" You could tell by her voice that she knew exactly what I was talking about, she just didn't want to believe it.

"My dad." Her face fell. She knew she had hurt me. She started to walk towards me.

"No!" She froze right where she was, the coldness of my voice slicing through her.

"Just leave me alone. I don't want you around at the moment." I know I sounded heartless, but I had just found out the whole world she had built for me was fake. The walls had all come crashing down because she'd lied to me.

She left. As soon as she shut the door behind her I started packing. I couldn't be here anymore. I had to get away from this life. When I finished packing I was going to walk out the door and I realized something. I couldn't leave. At least, not yet. What about Gwen? We needed to figure this whole thing out. And Courtney? My Princess. She needed to know how I felt before I went anywhere. I would talk to her at school tomorrow. Yeah. It was better for her to know than for her to think that I just up and left without a second glance back.

My mom came back in an hour or so later. I was lying on my bed staring at my ceiling, something I rarely did.

"Duncan?"

I stayed silent.

"Look, I know you're mad, but you need to realize something. What your dad and I had was nothing." Still "your dad" not "Gwen's dad".

"It was a fling and I didn't even want to be pregnant at the time. We never had any feelings for each other. We were both drunk when it happened and. . . I guess I'm just trying to tell you that I thought it would be better this way. That it would be easier to tell you your dad was dead then to say that he wanted nothing to do with you. I'm just trying to help you understand why I made the choice the way I did." She turned slowly, hoping I would answer, and left.

I let out a big sigh. She was probably right, it was easier to say he was dead, and for all purposes he still is.

I decided to go to bed a little early that night. Actually a lot early, 11. That's like 3 hours earlier than normal. My mom was proud that I was "finally taking responsibility". . . Yeah, right! I was just stressed out, not that I would ever admit that to anyone though.

I dreamt about Courtney. About what would happen if I left. It wasn't pretty. There were, of course, those kids who loved the fact that I was gone and rejoiced through the halls singing that they were finally free. That didn't last long once Gwen hunted them down and glared at them until they were finally sad that I was gone. That was NOT pretty at all, Gwen can be really scary when she wants to. And then there were my friends. Gwen, Geoff, Bridgette, Trent, they were all sad, but what I found most shocking was that Courtney wasn't herself. She seemed hollow, like she had disappeared with me. Then again it was MY dream, but still. Even I hadn't thought she would be that upset that was gone. Then again she had kissed me, even if it was just on the cheek.

I woke up just in time to be late for school. I was always fashionably late. I got to school and sat in my seat in homeroom in front of Gwen and beside Courtney. I could feel Gwen's eyes boring a hole into the back of my head, while Courtney was sneaking sideways glances my way every couple of seconds, trying to figure out what had happened last night to make Gwen so attentive to me. I paid no attention to either of them, which was kind of hard, actually. I ignored them both for most of the day, just hanging out with Geoff and Trent, but mostly Trent. Geoff was awesome, especially when it came to parties and stuff, but when it came to emotions and junk he was not the guy to go to, plus Trent knew. And he knew I knew he knew. Then came seventh period and, as usual, Geoff, Trent, and I skipped. That's when I remembered Gwen worked today. Fuck! That just throws a wrench into the whole avoiding her thing! Plus that means there is no way to escape her! We went to the restaurant and I tried to act like everything was cool. Apparently I was a better actor than I thought because no one noticed anything. . . until Gwen. When we walked in she caught my eye and I could tell she knew I was off right away, but she didn't call me out on it. She just acted like everything was normal and, man, she was a good actor, unless she actually felt like everything was normal? Would that be good or bad? Whatever, I would find out later.

**Gwen's POV**

Duncan had been avoiding me all day, and when he walked into the diner I saw why. Geoff and Trent, as well as they knew Duncan, I knew him better. He was so stressed about all this and he was worried, that's why he'd ignored me today. I didn't bring it up for his sake. That would wait until after at my house.

"Hey guys."

"Hey, Gwen." I got a response from Geoff, a grunt from Duncan, and a big flashy smile from Trent.

"The usual?"

"Yep." Somehow Trent had managed to figure out how to say it simultaneously too.

I did my shift at the diner and then went out the back dragging Duncan by the arm with me, just as Courtney walked in. I could tell she saw it, but wasn't sure what look had passed over her face as she saw us disappear into the back. I'm sure she didn't like it though. We started to walk home to my house.

"You know, Gwen, you really should get a car."

"So should you. Okay, Duncan, what's the deal? Why the hell are you so stressed about something this tiny?"

"Tiny? Gwen, you've got to be kidding! This isn't tiny! This is huge! It changes everything!"

"That's what I thought, Duncan, until I talked to Trent. He shone some light on the subject, so to speak."

"Yeah? And what did your ever so talented and gifted boyfriend have to say on the subject?"

"This doesn't change anything, Duncan—"

"THIS CHANGES—"

"Shut up for one second!" He kept quiet. "Thank you. This changes absolutely nothing, Duncan." He started to open his mouth and I shot him a look. He snapped it shut in a hurry. "You have always been a big brother to me. This just gives you an official title instead of being Duncan: A friend who acts like a big brother. Now you're my big brother, Duncan. It's as simple as that. Except for the fact that I now have to deal with _our_ dad and you have to talk some stuff out with your mom."

He scoffed. "Technically my mom already talked to me." He let spill the whole thing that had happened last night. When he finished he let out a big sigh and looked over at me. "Well, that's it. Now you know everything."

I looked at him and then hit him with the back of my hand.

"What was that for?"

"That's for not calling me and telling me right away after you found out that ever so valuable information from your mom!"

"Well, I'm sorry if I didn't want to interrupt your perfect little date with Trent!"

We were both silent. Then Courtney passed us in her car. She stop d and stuck her head out the window.

"Either of you guys want a ride?"

I looked at Duncan. He knew I was going to walk home because I thought better when I walked. He looked at me, then turned back to Courtney.

"Nah, thanks. We're good." I was shocked. And, by the look on her face, so was Courtney. She was offended that Duncan had chosen me over her. She drove away.

"Well, Duncan, now you've done it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Did you see the look on Courtney's face? Now she's going to think you have a crush on me or something, unless you tell her."

"No way am I dragging her into this mess, Gwen, not until we figure it out."

"Perfect, Duncan, just perfect! Now she is going to hate me until she either figures it out or we tell her!"

"Well, live with it then! I am not bringing her into this and that's that!" We were standing at the end of my driveway.

"You know what then Duncan? You go right along home and call her and see what happens then! She is going to hate you to and don't forget that I was the one who warned you!" I turned and stormed off down my driveway. This wasn't the first time we had actually acted like brother and sister. And it wouldn't be the last.

I walked into my house and slammed the door behind me.

"Gwen, sweetheart, are you okay?" My mom's voice was broken. She was crying? About what? What happened while I was talking to Duncan?

"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine. What's wrong?" Then it hit me. "Mom, Where' s Jeremy?" Anyone could hear the alarm in my voice.

"Aww, sweetheart_, /hiccup/_ there was an accident _/sob_/at school_. /hiccup_/He- he had to go to the hospital /_sob_/." No. . . no it couldn't be. Not now, not my knight! I turned and ran out the door. I ran and ran and ran. I could feel the salty tears streaming down my face. And then, would you look at that, I happened to run passed Duncan, still on his way home. He saw me and ran to catch up. Then he grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him.

"Gwen, hey, look at me. Tell me what happened."

"J-J-Jeremy. H-he's in the hospital." Duncan let go of my arms in utter shock. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me to his house, where he went inside grabbed his mom's car keys and started the car. I climbed in the passenger's seat. We were silent all the way there. I knew Duncan was trying to wrap his head around all this. I was just trying to fight back tears. My dad had just come back, wasn't that enough torture? Apparently not, the big man upstairs decided my life wasn't bad enough at the moment!

We got out and walked inside. I went straight up to the desk and said, "Where's Jeremy?" The lady looked at me like I was crazy.

"Jeremy who? And are you family?"

Duncan came up behind me. He was way better at these things than me.

"Jeremy Jero."

"Are you family?" Duncan hesitated for half a second before I realized he didn't know what to say. Duncan ALWAYS knew what to say. I jumped in before either of them could say anything.

"We're his siblings." The lady looked at me, then Duncan.

"Down the hall, second door on your right."

We walked down. Both of us didn't say a word. What could we say? I didn't know about Duncan, but if I opened my mouth I would cry. Apparently I was wrong though because when we walked in. . . I couldn't say anything when I saw him lying there.

"Jeremy. . . " Duncan didn't even have the energy to finish his sentence.

**A/N: I know it's intense! And now Duncan can't leave!...or can he? Mwa ha ha ha! We will see what happens in the next couple chapters! Let me know if you have any complaints and compliments are always good too! R&R everybody!**

**Madi**


	9. The Hospital

**A/N: So hope everybody liked my last chapter. This one has some swearing and a little Duncan/Courtney drama. Hope you like! Please let me know if it is sucky and if someone's not in character!**

**p.s. I no I haven't put a disclaimer or anything on my story, but do you honestly think that I would right something as trashy as TDA?**

**Madi**

**Duncan's POV**

Oh my fucking god NO! Not Jeremy! Not after all that has happened!

I couldn't wrap my head around it. I just stood there staring, as if from another universe. Watched as Gwen ran over to her brother and wrapped her arms around him even though there were so many tubes and wires hooked up to him.

It was like my thoughts were thinking in slow motion. All of a sudden, I found myself running over to Gwen's brother. . . _**our**_ brother. I didn't know what to do. There_** wasn't**_ anything I could do and that's what was killing me. Then I thought about Gwen.

There was no way that her parents would come down to the hospital to see this. Her mom was to torn up and. . . our dad probably didn't care right about now.

Gwen was sitting in the chair beside Jeremy's bed crying. It killed me to see her like that. I wanted to run over and comfort her. She wouldn't notice if I stepped out for a second.

I called Geoff. I think the guy was already crying on the phone. I wanted to burst into tears to, but I couldn't. Gwen didn't need that right now. It would make her realize just how bad this was. I would later when there were more people here to comfort her.

I called Bridgette. I didn't even need to explain before she started crying. She heard it in my voice the second I said, "Hello."

I called Trent. He was probably freaking out right now considering by the time I called him the only words I could say were, "Gwen. Jeremy. Hospital. Come. Now."

Courtney. I thought of what Gwen had said. There was no way Courtney would hate me. Right? Who was I kidding she was probably ranting right now about what a jerk I was! Oh well. She would come for Gwen. Then I thought about her face as Gwen dragged me to the back of the restaurant, when I refused her ride home so that I could walk with Gwen. Not good. She probably hated Gwen as much as me right now. Then she would come for Jeremy, wouldn't she? She considered that kid like her own brother. We all did. I would call her and argue her into it.

"Hello?"

"Courtney, listen I really need you to come to the hospital right now."

'What? Did your precious little Gwen get into a fight?"

"First of all, she isn't mine and she isn't precious. You're my precious little Princess. Secondly, it's Jeremy. There was an accident at school and he's in the hospital hooked up into tubes and everything. . . it's not pretty to see."

"Why does one of us always call everyone when Gwen gets hurt some way? She doesn't need all of us there. That means I don't need to come."

"I need you here, Courtney."

That shut her up. She didn't have a smart come back. I had to keep going. She had to know how I feel.

"Courtney, without you I would be nothing. I need you to keep me grounded."

"Why?"

It was one simple question. I couldn't screw this up with a smart comeback. So I went for the truth.

"I need you because. . . because I love you, Courtney. You're my princess."

Silence.

"Duncan. . . I have been waiting for those three words for two years. I love you, too."

"Good to know, Princess."

"What about Gwen?"

That stumped me. What was she talking about?

"What about Gwen?"

"Don't tell me you don't love her too."

"Yeah, I love her." I heard the quick intake of breath. "But not in the same way. I love her as if she were my sister." _Because she is._ I didn't say it out loud.

"Oh." I heard the disappointment.

"Princess? Will you come to the hospital? Please?"

"I'll be there. See you."

She hung up before I could say good bye. How had I screwed that up! It takes a real idiot to screw up something that perfect and I had a feeling Courtney wasn't going to let that go.

I walked back to where Gwen was sitting in Jeremy's room. She looked up at me and what I saw in her eyes. . . I shuddered. It was B-A-D Bad. Capital B. Her eyes were so haunted after what had happened in the last couple days. I wrapped my arms around her and she hugged me back tight and cried onto my shoulder. I started whispering meaningless comforts to her. That's when Geoff and Bridgette walked in. I don't know what they thought, but they kept it to themselves.

Bridgette ran over to Jeremy. It was killing her to see him lying there. She was taking it harder than I thought she would. Geoff just stood in the doorway looking at Jeremy. You could tell he had been crying. I know that once Trent gets here I'll be balling my eyes out too, but, come on, his girlfriend was already crying her eyes out and he needed to toughen up and be a man about it so he could comfort her!

Finally Trent was here! He looked at Jeremy in shock. Then he turned to me and Gwen.

I whispered so that no one, but Gwen could hear me. She let go immediately and got up and ran to Trent. He was ready and caught her in a giant hug. She started crying harder. Like she had been holding some back when I was trying to comfort her and when Trent came he would handle the rest. Almost as if she knew. . .

Trent started murmuring things to her and she started to lighten up and the sobs lessened. He kept on talking to her until the crying turned into hiccups.

Still no Courtney.

**Gwen's POV**

This couldn't be happening! I couldn't lose Jeremy! Not to mention the fact that my dad has disappeared again considering when he wasn't at the house I thought he would be here, but nope! He is no where!

I was sitting there crying when I noticed Duncan was no longer in the room. That made me cry even harder. Tell me, he didn't just leave! I couldn't have anything else in my life get ruined right now! What if he was mad at me for saying we were both Jeremy's siblings when he really wasn't? So many things could've happened that made him leave.

Then he walked back in. He came over to me and gave me a hug and held me tight. I cried, but I tried not to let it all out because I knew he wouldn't always be around and I couldn't lean on him too much. I don't think he knew that I knew he wouldn't be around forever.

Then he whispered to me. I got up and ran to Trent. I cried harder and harder as he tried to comfort me. After a little while, my crying subsided to hiccups and I pulled back and looked up at him. His eyes were full of concern and worry and relief. He was glad I was okay.

"Why is it that I always end up crying in front of you?"

"You have good reason to Gwen. And I don't mind." He actually cracked a smile after that last line. I tried to smile back. He was being so amazing sticking through this with me. Most guys would have just dumped me and went on with their lives.

Apparently my smile wasn't as amazing as I thought because he turned serious again and pulled me closer. He whispered in my ear.

"It'll be okay. I'm not going anywhere."

Trent might not be going anywhere, but could that be said for everyone in the room?

**A/N: What does Gwen mean? See if you can guess! Lol. Please review and let me know if you have any ideas for future chapters because I can only do so much before I reach the limit of my imagination in which case the story would end. So everybody needs to R&R! That's an order people! :P**

**Madi**

**p.s. I broke my wrist snowboarding this weekend so its going to take me forever to type out another chapter. Don't expect an update any time soon! Srry! :S :P**


	10. What the hell!

**A/N: K, so me and my friend (she has an account, **_**boscogirl**_**, read her stories they r amazing!) have a bet going...I am going to try and update every week and if I do she is going to start a new story because she hasn't written in forever! So if u do read her stories review and tell her that u have read this chapter and r going to keep bugging her until she does...and I no she will see this so...START WRITING A NEW STORY!**

**Please enjoy this very intense/surprising chapter! :P**

**Madi**

**Gwen's POV**

12:00 a.m. Midnight. It had been six hours. Bridgette and Geoff had gone home about 4 hours ago, with sympathy and prayers for Jeremy. Duncan had left 3 hours ago to see where Courtney was and to tell her what happened. He was oddly silent and deep in thought, which seemed to be happening a lot lately, and was _**never**_ a good sign. Trent was still sitting beside me though. I had told him more than once that he could go home, that he didn't need to stay here, and every time he replied, "You need me. Besides, I'll leave when _they_ come." _They_ being my parents.

Nothing had changed in Jeremy. He was still lying silently on his hospital bed, the tubes all still hooked up to him. The doctors had been in and out consistently. None of them had said a word to us. . . another bad sign. I seem to be getting those a lot lately.

Trent and I sat there, both of us lost in thought. That's when I realized that I hadn't seen my dad through all this. Not to mention that my mom never told me what exactly happened to Jeremy.

I almost jumped out of my chair, scaring Trent. He jumped to his feet immediately standing beside me with a hand on my arm, his eyes full of worry and concern.

"Gwen, what's wrong?"

"I need to call my parents." I dialed. No answer. I dialed again. Still no answer. . . not good.

"We need to go back to my house. Now." Trent could hear the urgency in my voice and he didn't question it. We ran out of the hospital. Lucky for me. . . not, Trent happened to be on his motorcycle. Not the BMW. Fun. Oh well, it was faster, and if I was right, fast was what we needed now, more than anything.

We got to my house and it was deserted. No one was home, no lights on, and definitely no note on the counter saying where my parents went to. There was no way my mom would vanish like this on me. Not after what my dad had done. My dad. . . It was him! It had to be! There was no other explanation for it! He was hiding something. . . now I just needed to figure out what. And who better to help me than the friends that had grown up with me and knew my family better than their own sometimes.

I got Bridgette and Geoff over to my house pronto. It may have been mid night, but once they learned my hunch they were over right away. We started brainstorming. I found one of those big white boards on a stand in my basement and brought it upstairs. You know, like the ones you see on _House_.

"Ok, so what do we know?" I started.

"Your dad disappeared on Friday, October 13th 2007." Trust Bridgette to remember the exact date, even when I didn't, and trust me I didn't.

Everyone started to rattle off what they knew, even Trent. He had heard stuff from Duncan and Courtney that he remembered.

By the time we had finished the white board was full. Then we came to Duncan and Courtney.

"Yo, Gwen, why aren't Dunc and Court here?" Trust Geoff to cut right to the chase. Even when it wasn't something I wanted to talk about. Lucky for me, Duncan had taught me to think on my feet. And sometimes I was even better than him.

"I figured they needed some time to figure some stuff out." _Like whether she still likes him_, I added silently. Courtney was probably P.O.'d at me for Duncan walking home with me instead of driving with her. And for a lot more. . . Duncan may have been out in the hallway when he called her at the hospital, but that didn't mean I didn't hear his side of the conversation. I mean, you can't say you love her and then say you love me too in a different way and not tell her WHY. Come on Duncan, what were you thinking! You should have either kept your mouth shut or told her the truth, not the half of it that would piss her off the most!

When he said he was going to fill Courtney in on what happened, I figured he was going to try and convince her that we weren't a couple while not telling her we were brother and sister. . . Good Luck! Courtney was way too stubborn to take him on his word. Oh well, their problem, not mine. . . Except he should be back by now. . . Maybe they had a little more to do than that. . . Oh, well, I'm sure they're fine. After all I only know two people who could get the better of Duncan and they were up in Brooklin. There was no way they could find him, even if they were looking for him. Duncan and Courtney were probably just busy. . . doing _other_ things.**  
**

Bridgette was studying the whiteboard intently. We all just stared at her trying to figure out what she was looking at. Finally she spoke up.

"What do all these dates mean to you guys?" There were six or seven dates where people had come to me and said 'Hey, Gwen, isn't that your dad?' then when I looked over they would say he disappeared. I figured it was just some stupid prank. . . until now of course.

None of us had any idea what she was talking about. Then again, that wasn't saying much since Bridgette noticed EVERYTHING.

"Come on guys, think! What was on the front page the day after these dates?" None of us had any idea. Was it something we should have remembered?

"Ugh," she got impatient with us, "The headlines were all about the murders that took place on every one of THESE DATES." At that we all stared in shock for a second. Then we started up the computer and searched the dates and found that Bridgette was right. I couldn't believe it! This was even worse than finding out that he was only around the corner!

I had to check myself. We didn't know it was him. It was just a hunch and a farfetched one at that. . . But somehow I knew it was true. Somewhere deep inside me I had a feeling. It sounds really cheesy when you put it like that. . . but still. . .

**Duncan's POV**

It had been over two hours and she still wasn't here. My Princess hadn't come yet and she said she would. My Princess would have been here by now. My Princess. . . something wasn't right. I figured since Gwen was so dead to the world when I had made the phone calls to everybody she wouldn't know I had called Courtney too. I told everybody that I was going to find her and fill her in. Half of that was true. Gwen asked me why I hadn't called her earlier, but I was ready for her. I told her that I got Courtney's answering machine. She must have believed me because she didn't say anything else.

I walked out of the hospital, determined to find Courtney. I checked if she was working first. Everyone said she had gone home about an hour and a half ago. . . weird. . . I checked her house and her parents said that she had left to go to the hospital about an hour ago. . . weirder. . . wrong. . . B-A-D! There was no way that Princess would have lied to her parents about where she was going. . . no. . . something had happened to her along the way. And I was going to find out, no matter what.

I got in my mom's car and drove to the hospital the way she would've gone. I drove as slowly as I could without getting yelled and cursed at all the while keeping a close eye out for my princess in case she was in an accident or something and ended up walking. . . nothing.

I avoided going into the hospital. I couldn't face Gwen now, not with what I was planning. With the way she acted at the hospital, how she didn't really let her tears go until Trent had her in his arms not me, I was happy she was leaning on him instead of me right now, but it still stung a bit, I was her brother after all.

I didn't know where else to look and it was killing me. I needed Princess right now and for all I know she had been kidnapped, and I wasn't going to let whoever took her get away with this. When I thought of Princess tied up and gagged, the fire still in her eyes as she waited to tear someone apart, it made me want to punch a hole through the wall, actually it made me want to do a lot worse than that, but we will stick to that story for now.

I had been walking all this time and now I had no idea where I was. I was somewhere downtown by the looks of it. I rounded a corner and ended up in an alley. I kept walking anyway. I glanced over to the side and saw a mark on the wall. The mark was 3 colours; blue, red, and green. The blue and green were tiny marks on the outside, but the red a big mark in the middle, it made me think off one thing. . . CDL. My former gang. No way! No way in hell had I walked that far! I walked up to the mark, and sure enough there they were. A tiny blue C, followed by a massive red D, with a tiny green L to finish it off; the gang's symbol. I can't remember the last time I saw those guys….

_Flashback_

_We were 3 delinquents, criminals. Chad, Leo, and me. Back in grade 8 and 9 we ruled the school and I got into some pretty bad stuff. . . including street fighting and gang beating. Chad came up to Leo and me._

"_Yo, man, I'm fucking pissed off with all this shit that's going around. People from our school are getting kicked shitless because we ain't bad enough and we don't have our own gang! I say screw it! We're gonna make a gang and they're gonna wish they ain't never been born!" Let's face it I was P.O.'d and it was a great idea. . . at the time._

_We started CDL, and we had such an amazing rep by the time our gang was 6 months old we were at the top of the streets and no one would touch us, but I wanted out. Gwen talked me into it actually, she convinced me what a big mistake it was and how much it would ruin my life, how much it had already ruined my life. She saved me from making a massive mistake. It kinda helped her argument when she convinced me the new girl in school hated gang's and all that jazz. The new girl had no idea I even exsisted until she started hanging out with Gwen and Bridgette. By the time she knew my name I was already outta that stuff, Chad and Leo weren't too happy about it though._

_Leo just started giving me the silent treatment, but Chad. . . Chad had a hell of a lot to say on the subject. I can remember his words perfectly.._

"_Screw you, Duncan! How dare you turn your back on us! We made you!" I kept walking._

_"I swear to god Duncan, you will see us again and when you do you are going to be begging us to take you back you worthless piece of shit!" And you can imagine how well that went over with me. After we got a few good hits on each other I was finished and he lay on the floor of this very alley way. Not dead, just K.O.'d. _

_End of Flashback_

I turned around and there they were.

"I told you we'd meet again." I was so surprised that I didn't have time to react. He punched me square in the nose and then black. . .

**A/N: I know it took me forever to update and I'm sooo sooo sorry, but I promise that I will update faster! I hope you enjoyed that chapter and next chapter we will see some more couples moments! I am going to try and work in moments for all the couples don't worry! I was really excited to put a little background on Duncan's life before Courtney…yes the new girl was Courtney….Anyway plz R&R!**

**Madi**


	11. Leo and Chad GASP

**A/N: K, so this is going to have some more DxC in it courtesy of **_**boscogirl**_** for making me. She is awesome and she helped me write the beginning of this chapter so I am giving a shout out to her! :D :D :D Hope you enjoy!**

**Madi**

**Gwen's POV**

We were in my room, I was pacing, Bridgette and Geoff were on the couch, Bridgette crying on Geoff's shoulder. She had cried when she had heard about each of those murders. She thought it was true too, and Bridgette was barely ever wrong. I wasn't really sure what Geoff was thinking, right about now. He was really quiet, other than trying to comfort Bridge, and he had a really dazed look in his eyes. Trent was leaning against the wall looking at me, once again trying to figure out what was up with me. What had I done to deserve a guy that only thought about me? He was amazing, but that didn't mean I was immune to feeling hurt that my own brother wasn't here to do this with me. I went over to the window, looking down at the street, remembering the day Duncan and I found out, how he had called up to me in my window. . . man, I missed him. Never thought I'd say that about Duncan. . .

Trent came over and wrapped his arms around me. I leaned into him.

"I don't know what to do." My voice was muffled in his shirt, but he still heard me. A single tear ran down my cheek.

"Don't worry, we'll find Duncan and Courtney and we'll figure this out. The sooner we find them the sooner we figure this out."

Bridgette stood up and wiped the tears off her face. "He's right, let's go find them." Geoff stood up beside her. He had his game face on. That was settled. I stepped back from Trent.

"Let's go." We were going to do this now because I really wanted this cleared up before March Break in 2 weeks. We all piled into Geoff's truck and we all set out.

**Duncan's POV**

When I woke up I didn't know where I was but I knew it wasn't good and I could instantly tell we were in downtown, because of the smell. . . cigars, cigarettes and beer. . . and I wasn't alone. You get these kinds of instincts after being in a gang and juvey. There were two figures in the corner and another figure that was tied in the chair next to me. I knew that it was Courtney; even in the midst of disaster when she was tied to a chair and gagged she still managed to smell like vanilla.

I turned my head to see her and I caught a glimpse before the two boys were on me. She didn't have a blindfold on and her eyes were full of worry. She was scared. I didn't like my Princess being scared. No one, and I mean no one, pushes her around. Not well I'm still breathing.

When the first one rushed at me I managed to break the front of the chair and stand up causing him to run into me. He was so startled that he didn't have time to react before I hit him with the back legs of the chair, knocking him out. The second one tried managed to pin me down but I got my gag off and spit in his face. You learn a hell of a lot of tricks in a gang. I kicked him off me and managed to free my hands with my pocket knife that I had grabbed when the first guy attacked me. I dropped the chair and now it was an even fight. . . until the other guy pulled out a knife.

All of a sudden, the lights went on and I recognized the guy at once. Little Jimmy Kendal. The kid had to be 14 now, about the age I started, and he was absolutely furious, but he hadn't thrown a punch. Then he stood up straight and looked past me. I turned around and would you guess who I saw. . . Leo and Chad. Chad then slowly clapped.

"Bravo, Duncan, I didn't think you had it in you. After all, you never had the guts to do that 4 years ago."

"Yeah, well, **CHAD**, you'd be surprised what you can learn in juvey that you can't learn on the streets." I made a point of emphasizing his name just so he knew that I knew who he was and I didn't care. It didn't change anything; he had kidnapped my Princess and he wasn't going to get away with it.

Chad opened his mouth as if to speak, but Leo raised a hand to stop him, and Chad shut his mouth. That surprised me, I had expected Chad to take over after I left, Leo never had the nerve to speak to any of our rivals and you needed to know how to smack talk somebody to stay on top.

Leo caught my look of surprise. "What, Duncan? Didn't expect the quiet one to have the guts to step up and take the leader position?"

"No, I didn't. But you know, you have pretty good grammar for I guy who dropped out of school in grade 8. What you been doing, taking online courses?" That ticked him off. Gang leaders were supposed to be ruthless and talk slang, not have perfect grammar and pronunciation.

"You know what, Duncan? Why don't I just get Jimmy here—" he nodded to Jimmy Kendal, "and Kyle" so that was the other guy "to rip you and your precious little _pprrriinnnccceeessssssss_" he drew out my nickname in a hiss, "to tiny little pieces and see what you have to say then, huh?"

I could see Princess out of the corner of my eye, her eyes widened in fear. I stiffened. That's when I realized why they hadn't blindfolded her. They weren't planning on letting her just put me over the top! I lunged at him. Tackling him and leaving a dent in the wall behind him. Chad grabbed me off him from behind throwing me to the ground. Then there was a knife at his throat. My pocket knife?

"You make one move and I swear to god I will slit your throat." That voice just sent my heart flying. I had heard it filled with hate and anger, usually directed at me of course, but never had I heard it with this much. . . malice in it. She absolutely hated his guts and she wasn't afraid to let him know it. That was my Princess, never scared of anything.

Chad froze. He didn't know whether she was serious or not. He didn't know what to do. That's when I realized why Leo was leader, not Chad, he couldn't make decisions under pressure, and that's crucial in a fight.

"Get up. NOW!" I had a giant smirk on my face. He didn't hesitate this time. He was standing up with his hands in the air.

"Easy there, little girl." First mistake. "You don't know what you're doing." Second mistake. "You need to take a chill pill." Third mistake.

She put the knife down to her side slowly, the fire never leaving her eyes. The smirk was on his face now, but I knew she wasn't done. He put his hands down and stepped toward her. Before I could even think of stepping between them she had swung the knife and cut a giant slash down his arm.

"YOU BITCH!" He definitely wasn't happy. I couldn't contain myself.

"HELL YEAH! THAT'S MY PRINCESS!" I burst out laughing. Chad, the Chad I had known back then at least, would never have even thought about saying that to a girl. I was about to do a happy dance, but I had forgotten about Leo. He had been standing in the corner, biding his time, and then he pounced. He had Courtney with her arm behind her back, in a tiny move he could break her arm, and the knife at her throat. I froze.

"Well, well, well. This is why we never got involved emotionally, Duncan. Just Physically." Courtney's eyes changed. She was hurt, and it had nothing to do with the arm behind her back or the knife at her throat. I couldn't even believe he had brought that up.

"You see, Duncan, when you get involved emotionally, blackmail gets a little too easy." He laughed. It wasn't even a laugh; it was more like a thunder and lightning sounding through his mouth.

"You even think of trying to rush me and I slit her throat. Difference is, you know I will." I knew it. He didn't have to say it out loud. Courtney's eyes widened, her pupils dilated. She was scared even more, and I couldn't do anything, or her life was over. DAMN IT!

"What the hell do you want from me Leo?"

"What the hell do you think, Duncan! The only thing you took from me!"

_Flashback_

"_Come on, Leo! Let's go! Just leave it we don't have time to stop!"_

_We ran. Leo looked back at the house we had just left. . . as it exploded. Leo had had that necklace since 3__rd__ grade. He had gotten it from his Great Grandfather who had fought in WWII. His Great Grandfather had just passed away. It was his prized possession and he loved it more than anything else. It was like he lost his life that night, and he blamed me. I was the one that made him leave it behind._

_End of Flashback_

"You have got to be fucking kidding me! That necklace EXPLODED! You can't get it back! There is no way you would kill someone over something that doesn't exist anymore! Are you psycho?"

"Oh, Duncan, you should know me better." He slowly started to dig the knife into Courtney's neck.

"You wouldn't." I tried to make my voice menacing, but it was a failed attempt. My voice was cracking and as Leo got a better grip on the knife I knew I was wrong, he would kill her in a second. My knees were starting to shake. I took a step toward him. "Now now Leo, no need to do anything hasty. Give me the girl and then you get your necklace, happy?"

"Oh, Duncan. You should know better. You know how these things work. First you get that necklace, then you get the girl. Non negotiable." I had to cave. I had no other option.

"Fine. But you let the girl go right now. You can keep her somewhere, but no one, I repeat NO ONE touches her. Got it?"

"Fair enough." Alright, time to find that stupid fucking necklace.

**A/N: Omg! What will happen to Courtney and Duncan? Will the necklace be found? Where are the others? Will they get there and save the day? Does Courtney still like Duncan? LMFAO! Guess! Hope you enjoyed and R&R! :D :D **

**Madi**


	12. Inside Enemy Lines

**A/N: I am so sorry that it took me forever to update, but I had a minor/major case of writers block, plus I'm still on vacation! I'm at home, but March Break still counts as vacation! Enjoy this chapter and a warning to Gwen fans because she is really hurt in this chapter. Not all physically, but still hurt really badly. Enjoy!**

**Madi**

**Gwen's POV**

None of us had any idea where to start. Bridgette and I argued for awhile her saying he was at the place where he and Courtney first met, a.k.a. the lake; me trying to convince her that there is only one place he would be with Courtney without them having us with them, a.k.a. CDL's place. Not good, but true.

"Fine, Gwen, whatever, you win. Let's just get going, okay?" Bridgette was P.O.'d at me now, but we needed to get there fast and I wasn't about to say that Leo and Chad would wait for us.

When we got to Brooklyn I didn't know what to say. I knew where the HQ was, but that was a chapter of my life I closed 4 years ago and Trent had no idea about it. Not to mention that it was a chapter I didn't want to open. By this time Bridgette had forgiven me, because it is impossible for her to hold a grudge. She knew what this meant to me and she knew how I felt about it. She turned in her seat and gave me a reassuring smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She knew I had to tell them where HQ was fast or we didn't know what would happen. I told Geoff. He drove. When we got there, the placed looked as creepy and abandoned as ever, if not MORE creepy and abandoned than ever. Trent, Geoff, and Bridgette got out of the truck. I sat and stared at the building I had once called home. They were looking at me, Bridgette trying to figure out what I was thinking, Geoff trying to decide whether to wait or tell me to get out and Trent. . . Trent had no idea what I was doing. I swallowed and got out. There was no way I could avoid this, but I was definitely going to find a loop hole somewhere. I had too. There was no way on this planet that I was going to tell Trent what I had done here. Good memories and bad ones.

_-Flashback- (the kind in movies where they have a bunch of images flying in front of their eyes)_

_Chad and I having our first kiss in the kitchen.  
Chad, Duncan, Leo, and I making a giant tag on the school wall.  
The whole gang doing a drug run.  
Chad and I watching the stars on the roof.  
Chad, Duncan, and Leo going at it with the Rafes. Stupid name for a gang._

_The house blowing up as Chad, Leo, Duncan and the others run._  
_Chad's hand coming across my cheek._  
_Chad and Leo going at Duncan._  
_Duncan and me in the back of the cop car._  
_Watching Duncan in the interrogation room, keeping his cool even with 3 cops on him._  
_3 cops interrogating me, asking questions that hurt too much to answer._  
_Juvie._  
_Chad and Leo laughing at us._

_-End of Flashback-_

I felt a tear slide down my cheek at those last 2 memories. Chad hadn't even cared. I had been nothing to him, just a disposable squeeze. His little toy. I had been such an idiot back then. Guess what? I'm not the same girl anymore Chad! You will not get me this time!

Trent walked over and wiped the tear from my cheek. I couldn't look at him. If he saw. . . I just couldn't.

"Don't worry, we'll get him back." He thinks this is about Duncan? _Let him_. I nodded. Inner voices come in handy when you can't think straight. _Now get into that house and find the hidden room. I bet that's where they will be._ Whether it would be Chad and Leo or Duncan and Courtney, I didn't know, but somebody would be in that room.

I didn't look at any of them. I walked straight to the door and walked right in. Nobody questioned my entrance, and when the rest of them came in everybody looked at me funny, but I gave them a glare and they were on their way.

"This way." I navigated through the halls, just like old times, not looking back to make sure they were following, because I couldn't look at them, not talking for fear my voice would crack. I could see the marks on the walls where we had fooled around and somebody had put a shoulder or a hip through. All good memories. All of a sudden on the left there was a whole the size of a door. I sped past that one as fast as possible without making it obvious. That was the one from Duncan going through the wall. The day I had spoken up to say that they were being too rough on him because he had almost blown their cover. The day I had told Chad and Leo to lay off a bit. The day Chad had slapped me. The day before Duncan and I had gotten caught, on the drug run that Chad had made Duncan sub in for. Duncan and I had already figured out that they had set us up. I mean, come on, it was obvious. They weren't exactly evil geniuses, but they knew how to make sure we didn't bother them again. I felt my eyes start to sting. The edges of my vision became blurry. NO! I am not going to cry over THIS! I blinked back the tears and kept walking. Then I realized where we were and pulled up short. I faced the wall on my left.

"Gwen?" Trent probably thought I was nuts right now, but this is where it was. I took a deep breath. I didn't know what I was going to find in there, either my past or my present, but I was NOT going to face it crying. I set my shoulders back and pulled the torch on the right down. I know, it was really clichéd and incredibly stupid, considering there is no other torch in the place! I had told them that, but nooo, I was a girl and I didn't know anything about decorating. Ugh, guys.. . . anyway. . . Poof! There was the door. I turned the knob and walked in. There, right smack in the middle of the room was Courtney. Tied to a chair with a beam of light streaming down on her. There was no one else in the room, and there was a lot of ground to cover between us and her. I made the universal gesture for her to be quiet. She stayed perfectly still, eyes on us. Bridgette made a lunge to run to her. I held her back and gave Geoff and Trent a look. They pulled her back and I just stared at her until she got the message. I was the only one who had any past experience with these guys and therefore she was going to shut it and do what I told her to when I told her. Trust me, she got the message loud and clear.

Now, how to get to Courtney and get her out, without anyone noticing. _Get them to stay and creep slowly toward the middle. . . army crawl. . . watch for sensors._ See what I mean? Genius inner voice. I told them to stay there and got down on my stomach. I could tell they weren't thrilled, but they needed to know if I got caught they left, and they definitely didn't come back. They were waaaayyy out of their league here. I hate to say it, but Bridgette especially. She expects everyone to be there best and that they are good people. Here, if you think like that, you're the first one gone.

I started crawling. I saw the sensor on the left about 3 inches off the ground. I sat back on my knees and dove over it into a somersault. I could feel those 3 watching me. The last thing I needed was to get stage fright. I focused on my goal. Courtney's eye met mine. I could see the fear in them. In her goody goody CIT world this didn't exist. She had no idea what was going on or what would happen if we didn't get her out. I sighed. I was the only one in my element here. Great. Heavy on the sarcasm.

I got to her. I don't know how, but I made it. Too bad I couldn't get caught on the way; it would've made it much less painful. Before I took the ropes I told her she had to take the others and get out once she was free. She understood. But we didn't get that far. As soon as I touched the ropes I felt the shock. It hurt like hell. I screamed. Actually it was more like me yelling, "Shit!" And it wasn't a long curse. I heard Courtney yell, "Go! Now!" That meant the others were safe, and then I blacked out. I must've only been out for a couple seconds because when I came to I was still on the floor, but the others were gone and it was just me and Courtney. I started to sit up. I had a copper taste in my mouth. . . blood. And my head exploded every time I moved even the slightest bit. I froze. Had I imagined those voices? No. Of course not, because my day had to keep getting better and better. I swore under my breath. I looked up at Courtney, she was quiet, but inside she was freaking out. I told her to keep quiet, pretend she didn't know me and that I was still out of it. I played possum. I heard the footsteps and, as they got closer, their voices. It freaked me out that even after 4 years and juvey, I could still tell who it was. And I didn't like what I heard.

"What the hell'd I tell you? Of course Duncan wouldn't get your necklace. He just wants his precious Princess and then he's gone."

"Be quiet, Chad. We should've used the sensors. Then he at least would've been—" his voice cut off in a gasp. Aw, shit! That meant they recognized me. . . not good. I felt someone lean over top of me. Heard his voice in my ear and it took all of my will power not to cry or give myself away.

"Hey, sweetheart," his breath tickled my neck as he used the voice I had fallen for, the voice that he had used so that I gave him EVERYTHING. "Are you just playin' possum, darling? You know you don't have to do that. It's just me." I didn't move. I had to think of Courtney. I couldn't give myself away. I had to find a way out of here. And they couldn't know it was me.

"Forget about it, Chad. We will see if she is playing possum." And with that he planted his foot directly into my ribs. . . and I couldn't last.

"Fuck!" I looked up at Leo. I could feel the two broken ribs. Thankfully, neither was in my lung, so I could scream at them. "Screw you, Leo! As if an electric shock wasn't bad enough!" It still killed to breathe though. I didn't look at HIM, I couldn't. I would break down if I did. But he wouldn't have that.

"Come on, love. He just wanted to see you up and about again. So do I. So, get up." I refused to look at Chad let alone get up. . . at his command? He did not just order me around! I could feel Courtney's eyes on us. I glanced at her so she knew I wouldn't let anything happen to her. So that she knew she would see Duncan again. Then I lay back down on the cold cement floor. Of course, Chad always had to have his way, so that didn't work. He grabbed the front of my shirt and hauled me up. I would like to tell everyone, when you are going to save your friend in an abandoned house where the gang you were formerly part of lives, which includes your ex, do not, I repeat, DO NOT wear a V neck top! He couldn't keep his eyes up for 2 seconds, and being in his clutches, at least 6 inches off the ground, and he was still taller than me...didn't help and so so not cool.

"Look, hun. This is how it's going to work. You are going to do what I say, when I say it. Consider it as being my own personal assistant. . . maybe it will get to be just like old times." He pulled me closer to him. I put my hands on his chest. That damn voice of his. I was warming up to the idea just a bit and then I caught the lust in his eyes, as they scanned my up and down. _Chad, you can go to hell! _I thought as hard as I could. Willing him to listen to it.

"Well, well, well. Looks like you grew up, honey." He leaned in closer so that only I could hear him. "And out." And with that I pushed away from him with all my might. Apparently I don't have a lot of might though. It didn't do any good.

"Oh yeah, Chad," I said, my voice as sarcastic as possible under the circumstances. "Just like old times. Like the time you raped me in the alley, or the time on the couch?" K, so _raped_ wasn't exactly how it had happened, but I wasn't about to let him win this argument, especially when he just said that to me, at least that's what I thought until he dropped me and I fell on my butt. Then he came and put his foot on my neck and pressed down. Hard. Like, so hard it pushed me to lie back down and I was still having trouble breathing. . . from the foot on my neck combined with the pain in my ribs, it wasn't going good. Then he let go. Just like that. I was thankful, but something seemed off. I started to roll onto my stomach, about to get up, but only got half way before the pain in my ribs got to the point where I couldn't move. Then I regretted my decision.

"Perfect position, Gwen." And with that Leo planted another kick, this one smashing into my face and ricocheting my head back. I saw Courtney as my head went back, my neck straining. My head smashed forward and I blacked out yet again.

**A/N: I'm so mean. I would like to point out that I think Gwen's emotional pain was worse than her physical pain in this chapter. I am sorry to all Gwen fans. She is one of my fave's too. Please R&R people! I haven't gotten many reviews in the last couple chapters and it is making me sad ****! Jks! :D But it would be absolutely amazing if you guys could give me some ideas of what you think is going to/needs to/what you want to happen to Gwen and Courtney, to Duncan, or to the rest of the gang. Awesome! :D**

**Madi**


	13. Is There Such Thing As Escape?

**A/N: K, so I tried to update as soon as possible, but it was a little hard cuz I was in Cuba for a week sorry! Please forgive me! So, to apologize, I wrote this insanely intense chapter for you! =D**

**WARNING! (like one of those flashing signs . . . you can just imagine it) Swearing and something a little creepy. . .if that makes any sense =D**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Madi**

When I woke up it wasn't what I expected. It was pitch black, obviously, but my hands and feet weren't tied. What the hell? Don't get me wrong, I was grateful! But when Duncan and I ran this gang you always tied hands and feet to insure that there was no possible way to escape unless the guards fell asleep or something. That had only ever happened once. . . Duncan had been pprrreeetttyyy mad about that. Anyway, back to my death trap . . . or lack of one.

I tried to sit up. Not smart. A searing pain shot through my skull as my forehead hit something hard. _Probably a wall, _I thought. _Wait, why would there be a wall above me? Shit! They knew!_ Not many people knew about my claustrophobia, but those who did never forget. And of course I had told all the CDL guys way back when. _Ok, Gwen, deep breaths. In and out. In and out. _I rolled to the side praying I was wrong. But of course I couldn't be wrong when it really counted! _Ok ok. Other way_. Nope. Another wall. I reached my hands out along the floor above my head. They hit something hard. I was starting to hyperventilate. _Feet?_ Even the voice in my head squeaked with fear. I scooted my but down and stretched my feet out. Yep, wall.

It's, ok. I was going to be fine. Right? I mean, Duncan would come get me after he helped Courtney, wouldn't he? Well, if Courtney told him. . . her and I weren't on the best of terms right now, but I tried to save her and that should count! Shouldn't it?

**Oh, shut up and look for something you could use to cut through this crap so you can get your ass home to Trent! **Oh, right. That little voice in your head always helps when you need it. But even i needed help sometimes.

_How the hell do you cut through CEMENT you idiot!_

**Can it! It's not cement retard so try again! **Oh. I felt it again. Wood. Man these guys have gotten stupider over the years. So maybe my voice didn't need help. . .

_Alright, so while you're all high and mighty, what do I use?_

**Your anklet. The silver moons will cut right through it.**

_Excuse me? You better not be wrong about this. And if my anklet has so much as a scratch on it you're a dead voice. Got it!_

**Just do it.**

Huh. Would you look at that. It was like cutting through a piece of paper. It probably took me the better part of an hour, but it worked. There was a hole above my head probably just big enough for me to fit through . . . hopefully. I reached my arms through and out I went. Close one.

I was up and out. Ok, now to find Courtney or Duncan. Hey, maybe I'd run into Chad or Leo on the way and get to kill one of them early. That wouldn't be too shabby. Let the search begin . . .

**Courtney's POV**

When I saw his foot slam down on Gwen's face, I screamed. Sure I may not have had the most amazing feelings toward her since Duncan had been hanging around her a lot lately, but she was still one of my best friends, and she was here to save me, but got caught in the process. That was not cool with me. I screamed my head off until I felt a fist come down on my head too, and that was the end of that.

When I woke up, I didn't know where I was, but I didn't like it. I was tied hands and wrists to a chair just like before. Mouth gagged and everything. The difference was, and it made a HUGE difference, all I had on was my bra and underwear. Ooooohhhhhh, SO NOT COOL! Then the lights flicked on and there was Chad . . . in just his boxers . . . oh no . . . OH HELL NO! I was pissed now! This was not going to happen! To hell with it! He can go fuck himself, thank you very much!

But of course fate wouldn't let me suffer in peace! He started walking up to me slowly. I was shuddering in disgust. Don't get me wrong, he had really hot abs and a great body, and he was adorable, but I was Duncan's, and he was the only one I liked to see in boxers. He was getting closer. Oh god! I was freaking out inside, but I refused to let him know. He needed to think I was going to be hard to break so that it gave Duncan or the others more time to get here. Please let them hurry! He was standing right in front of me. . . oh no.

"We're gonna go for a little ride."

Before I could scream I saw a shadow . . . Duncan?

**Gwen's POV**

I was out. Holy shit, I was out! HAHA TAKE THAT! I was about to do a little happy dance when that voice kicked in and brought me back to reality.

**Courtney.**

That was all it took, one word. It brought my whole world crashing down. I can't believe I had forgotten she was here. Then I remembered.

I had expected to see Chad sitting there when I woke up but he wasn't, which meant Leo had been the one to pick out my punishment . . . that wasn't too bad but that meant that Chad got to pick out Courtney' punishment . . . that was scary just to think about.

I ran. Not away, but I navigated the hallways. If they hadn't changed anything since I had been here, then I was home free. I knew exactly where he would take her and there was a very very slight possibility that they had changed it. But it was just that, a very very slight possibility. I mean, so slight it barely counts. But it was still a possibility, that's why I was booking it through the halls.

I came to the room and took a deep breath. Whatever I was about to open the door to wouldn't be pretty, whether they were in there or not. I pulled the door open and you will never guess what I saw!

**A/N: HAHA! K, it is still a cliff hanger because you don't know whether it was Duncan and you don't know what Gwen saw! Mwahahahahaha! K, I will try and update soon! In the meantime . . . . . Guess! :D The more guesses I get the longer and better the next chapter will be! :D :D**

**Madi**


	14. Of Escape and Hospitals

**A/N: WOOHOO! I'm backkkkk! Here is the next chapter! I honestly couldn't remember where I was going with this so I am just winging it aha This story has been going on way too long so I'm probably going to wrap it up as fast as I can without rushing it. That means probably about 3 or 4 chapters! Anyways . . . . Brownie points toooo . . . **_**TakoBeatle, Pink0y0s, **_**and **_**Iheartwhitechocolate**_**!**

_**TakoBeatle**_**: haha thanks And yeah I had to go back too :p Hope you enjoy this chapter! **

_**Pink0y0s: **_**haha thanks so much! Hope you enjoy, and hope it was worth the wait**

**Gwen's POV**

Courtney was tied and gagged to a chair in just lingerie and Chad, clad only in black silk boxers (yes, silk). The really weird thing? Chad was on the ground with Duncan on top pounding on him. Chad looked really beat up, bloody, and bruised, where as Duncan didn't look like he had a scratch on him.

I snapped out of it and ran to Courtney, I gave her my shirt and skirt, leaving me in a tank top and leggings, after taking the gag off and untying her as fast as possible. When I was done, Duncan was still beating the shit out of Chad.

"Duncan," I said. He didn't hear me.

"Duncan!" Still nothing.

"DUNCAN!" That got his attention. He froze, fist mid swing.

"We have to go," I said, my voice leaving no room for argument. He got up, spit on Chad and then proceeded to walk out the door. Now came the hard part. We would have to navigate through the halls, avoiding everyone, to escape. Then find Trent, Bridgette, and Geoff. Oh, joy.

We walked down the hall slowly and silently. My head was pounding. The throbbing was not making it any easier to concentrate on listening for footsteps. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the dizziness.

"Gwen," Courtney muttered into my ear, squeezing my shoulder. "You've got to stay conscious. Just long enough to get out of here. Then you can black out, I promise."

I nodded, forcing my eyes open and focusing on the task at hand.

Duncan stopped us at the corner of the hallway. We all pressed up against the wall as we heard footsteps coming down the hall. Duncan put his finger to his lips, signalling us to be quiet. As the man came around the corner, Duncan jumped out, punched him, and grabbed him in a sleeper hold, knocking him out. We followed the maze of hallways. Luckily we were at the back end of the warehouse and no one ever came here. That was probably the reason it had been used as our prison. We went out the back way and snuck down the alley.

The problem, sitting there in a red Porsche at the end of the alley, was none other than Leo.

Oh joy.

I was having a really hard time staying on my feet by this time. Courtney was supporting most of my weight, but I was hanging in there.

Leo smirked as he saw us. He got out of the car and walked over to us. None of us moved.

"Don't you just love the car?" Leo said. "Think of everything you two would've had if you had stuck around. Tsk-tsk, such a shame. Don't you agree?"

There were a million responses to that flying around in my head, most of which involved me cursing like a sailor. However, since I was barely conscious, I had to agree with Duncan's answer.

"Go fuck yourself." It was a very adequate answer.

Next thing I saw Leo pull out a gun and aim it at Duncan.

Then everything went black.

**Courtney's POV**

I felt Gwen go unconscious so that I was fully supporting her now. All I could do was stand frozen as I watched Leo put a gun to Duncan's forehead. I was terrified. And then Duncan smirked and I wasn't quite sure what to think.

"See, Leo, the problem with you being so into the political side of things," Duncan drawled calmly, "is that you failed to learn the proper way to threaten someone. Never put a gun this close unless you're planning to pull the trigger."

Then Duncan moved faster than I have ever seen anyone move in my life. All of a sudden, Leo was on the ground with Duncan's boot pressed to his throat and the gun ten feet away. And then Leo blacked out.

Frankly Duncan was kind of scary at that moment, but we had bigger problems. "Umm . . . Duncan?" He turned to me and noticed Gwen. "I can't carry her."

"Here, I got her. We'll get her to the hospital and then worry about finding the others." He lifted her bridal style and buckled her into the back of the Porsche. He then climbed in the driver's side and smirked at me. "Coming, Princess?"

I smirked right back. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Duncan ended up driving us back home and putting Gwen in the same hospital Jeremy was in. By some unimaginable stroke of luck, Bridgette was with Jeremy.

"Oh my God! Thank God you guys are okay!" Bridgette through her arms around me as we walked down the hall. "We didn't know what to think! Geoff and Trent are back at the house. Trent's worried sick. To top it off, Gwen's parents still haven't shown up yet."

"Woah, wait, Gwen's parents haven't been in to see Jeremy yet?" I asked, incredulously.

Bridgette gasped. "I forgot you guys don't know!" She then proceeded to fill us in on everything they found out and how Gwen's parents are currently MIA.

Duncan rolled his eyes, threw his hands up and said, "Perfect. I finally get a dad and he turns out to be a pyscho."

Bridgette and I both gave him a weird look. "Finally get a dad?"

He cursed under his breath. "Guess you guys don't know yet." He then began to fill us in on his and Gwen's dad.

_They have the same dad! That's why they've been so close lately! This is great! He meant it when he said he loves me! And he really does love Gwen like a sister because she is his sister! This is awesome! _

"Jero family?" we heard a nurse call.

Duncan's head snapped around. "That's us!"

"Gwen is awake now. Fourth door on the left."

The three of us ran down the hallway to her room. We burst through the door and saw her sitting up on the bed. All three of us starting firing questions at her until she put a hand up to stop us.

"I promise I will answer every freaking questions you have once you get me _**out of here**_," she said.

Duncan laughed. "I'll see what I can do." With that, he headed to the nurses station to get the release papers.

I sat down on one side of Gwen's bed and Bridgette sat on the other. I cleared my throat. "Umm . . so Duncan told us about how you guys are siblings. I'm really sorry for being such a jealous bitch to you."

Gwen laughed. I was kind of surprised at first. Then she said, "Don't worry about it. I told him it would happen and he was still idiot enough to not tell you. That's okay, though. I get an 'I-told-you-so' now."

Bridgette piped in then. "Trent's waiting for you at the house. He's worried sick. I think he really does love you, Gwen."

I noticed the look on her face as she thought about him. "And you really do love him don't you?"

She looked surprised at my accusation. And then it dawned on her and she got this serene look on her face as she nodded. "After everything that's gone on . . . yeah, I really do love him."

Bridgette and I shared a look as we smiled. Then Duncan came in. "Alright, you're good to go. Should someone stay here with Jeremy in case he wakes up?"

"Yeah, I will," Bridgette volunteered. "I'm probably one of the best options to stay." We all nodded and Gwen was out of the bed in a flash. She hugged Bridgette and we set off for the house.

The whole ride to Gwen's house was filled with Gwen's I-told-you-so's. And they were all well warranted.

**Gwen's POV**

The moment I stepped through the door I was in Trent's arms. I hugged him tight. buried my face in his chest, and breathed in deeply. I felt safe.

"Okay," Duncan said, getting right down to business. "What do we know?" Geoff then proceeded to show Duncan our little chart and what everyone added to it, conveniently allowing Trent and I to have some alone time.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he whispered.

"I'm sorry I scared you. . . Trent, I have something to tell you." I stepped back slightly so I could look him in the eye.

He looked down at me. "If this is about the gang thing, Geoff and Bridgette already explained." I couldn't even hide my surprise. "It doesn't change anything, Gwen."

It struck me at that moment how perfect the man standing in front of me was. He stood by me through all the crap that's gone on and accepted me for who I am, past and all. I nodded at him and said, "One more thing." He raised his eyebrows. "I love you."

He looked shocked. Then he had this shit-eating grin on his face. "That's great news," he replied. "Cuz I love you, too."

My grin matched his as I pulled him in for a kiss.

But of course the moment had to be ruined.

"Yo, love birds, get your asses up here! We've got shit to do!"

I've decided life would be a lot more peaceful without Duncan.

**A/N: Hope you enjoy! I promise I will try to update soon! Please review!**


	15. Not a chapter sorry

The administrators of ours, as of June 4th going to be taking down Fics that have lemons or have extreme violence. Now I don't know about you but I think that is a restriction on the right of an author to write their story as they see fit. There are many wonderful fics that only have one or two lemons in them yet the plot itself is awesome! You can't just take down a 100,000+ word fic just because it has a lemon in a chapter that is only 1000 words long. Now I urge you all to read the petition below, sign it, and repost this to your own fics. Hopefully if we make enough noise everything will return to normal. Thank you.

Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site.

Myself, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.

For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that I believe violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.

It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.

If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests.

While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be looseing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.

There is absolutely no point in having an "M" rating if the content is not, in fact, mature. I feel it would be both more fair and more practical to simply make the "M" rated section of the site unavailable to anyone who does not have a profile on . All users should have a date of birth put in during sign up. In this way you can ensure that M-rated fics are inaccessible to anyone who is not willing to verify that they are 18 years old or older. It is ridiculous to limit fanfictions in the way that you are proposing. While, yes, some stories are simply pornographic there are many times that adult situations or violence can be used to make a more effective point. It should not be in your power to make that judgment call. After all, the author of the _best selling fiction series_ "50 Shades of Grey" had her start in erotic "Twilight" fanfiction, which only illustrates my point. For a website whose entire purpose is the proliferation of creativity, your attempts to stifle such works is at best hypocritical and at worst straight up censorship...which should be a dirty word for anyone who loves reading.

For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.

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	16. Note again sorry

I know I'm a terrible author and keep updating chapters that are not chapters but this is really important! As you all know from my last chapter, FanFiction is trying to ban all stories with lemons, sexual content, etc etc. The list goes on. Anyways there is a petition at www . change petitions/fanfiction-net-stop-the-destruction-of-fanfiction-net# (take out the spaces)

PLEASE PLEASE sign! This is our freedom of speech/press! FanFiction is supposed to be about 'unleashing our imagination' but they are trying to stop us from doing just that! Go to the link and sign the petition! Don't let them take this from us!

p.s. I promise I will upload an actual chapter next :p


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